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EVANS'S ESSAYS. 




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EVANS'S ESSAYS 



Practical Hints for Retail Jewelers 
by One of Them 



CHARLES T. EVANS 



Being articles reprinted from " The Manufacturing: Jeweler " 



Providence, R. I. 

WALTER B. FROST & COMPANY 

42 Weybosset Street 

1908 






f 



UBfiARY of CONSSESSj 
Two Copies Hacivtsd 

FEB 27 1908 

3LAS§4 XXc, Nu.| 



Copyright 

by Walter B. Frost 

1908 



CONTENTS. 



The Store and its Departments. 

CHAPTER PAGB 

I. The Retail Jewelry Business i 

II. Starting a Store with Small Capital 8 

III. The Repairing Department 17 

IV. System in Handling Repair Work 20 

V. The Engraving Department 23 

VI. Advertising by the Retailer 27 

VII. Advertising the Repair Department 31 

VIII. The Buying of Stock 35 

IX. Taking Cash Discounts 39 

X. Show Windows and Their Uses 42 

XL Cards for the Store and Window 48 

XII. The Disposing of Old Stock 51 

XIII. The Optical Side of a Retail Store 54 

XIV. Safe-guarding of Valuables 58 

XV. How the Souvenir Craze Helps Trade. . . 62 

XVI. Side Lines in a Jewelry Store. 66 

XVII. The Jeweler and his profit 70 

XVIII. The Basis for Credit . 74 

XIX. The One-Price System 78 

XX. " Your Money Back if You Want it " ... 82 



IV 



CONTENTS 



The Jeweler and the Seasons — Continued. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XXL The Jeweler's Guarantee 86 

XXII. Why Trade Papers are Necessary. ...... 89 

XXIII. The Jeweler and the Department Store. . . 93 

The Jeweler and the Seasons. 

XXIV. The Beginning of the Year 96 

XXV. A Few Thoughts of Gentle Spring 102 

XXVI. June Weddings and Graduations 106 

XXVII. Jewelry Business in the Summer-Time . . .111 

XXVIII. The Vacation Season 115 

XXIX. Fall Opening Day 119 

XXX. Handling the Holiday Rush 122 

XXXI. The Show Window During December . . .125 

XXXII. Helping the Purchaser at Christmas 128 

XXXIII. Preventing Thefts at Christmas-time 132 

Methods of Conducting Business. 

XXXIV. The Value of a Good Name 136 

XXXV. Co-operation and System 139 

XXXVI. Practical Advice for Salesmen 142 

XXXVII. Through Labor Comes Reward 145 

XXXVIII. How to Hold our Customers 148 

XXXIX. Reputation and Credit 151 

XL. The Ideal Jewelry Clerk 155 

XLI. Competition the Life of Trade 159 

XLII. Be Generous to Customers 163 



CONTENTS . 



Methods of Conducting Business — Continued. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

XLIII. The Average Man Described 166 

XLIV. The Good-Will of a Business 170 

XLV. Friendship in Business 174 

XLVI. Do Your Best and Do It Now 177 

XLVII. Have Confidence in Yourself 180 

XLVIII. Luck or Pluck, Which Wins 183 

XLIX. Comparing Notes Profitable 186 

L. Evils of Procrastination 189 

LI. The Force of Example 193 

L1I. Making a Salesman 196 

LIII. The Proper Use of Time 200 

LIV. Tact and Diplomacy .... 204 

LV. Cultivate a Spirit of Contentment. ...... 208 

LVI. Pointers about Store Keeping 212 

LVIL The Follow Up System 216 

LVIII. The Treatment of Customers 219 

LIX. The Art of Letter Writing 223 

LX. A Business Built on Honor 227 

LXI. Relations of Employe and Employer 231 

LXII. Know Your Goods and Stock 234 

LXIII. The Holding of Customers 237 

LXIV, Be Well and Neatly Dressed 241 

LXV. Go Forward and Not Back 245 



FOREWORD BY THE AUTHOR. 



IN the fall of 1903, there appeared in "The Manufacturing 
Jeweler," a weekly trade paper published in Providence, 
R. I., an invitation to all interested readers, to submit es- 
says on the subject, "The Art of Selling Jewelry," and offering 
to the three submitting the most meritorious articles, cash 
prizes as rewards for their efforts. The writer read the no- 
tice, and resolved to compete. The article which he sent in 
proved to be the prize winner, and, as a result, the editor of 
"The Manufacturing Jeweler" requested him to write a se- 
ries of articles especially designed for retail jewelers, each 
article to be complete in itself. Neither the editor nor my- 
self had any expectation that the articles would be contin- 
ued as long as they were. But as week after week rolled 
around, a new subject suggested itself, which was enlarged 
upon, and developed to the author's best ability. 

That the articles continued to appear can be accounted for 
in two ways: The encouragement given me by the editor, 
and the kind letters sent me by interested readers through- 
out the United States and Canada. At periodical times the 
notion would strike me that I had exhausted myself; that 
the articles no longer contained the interest or force which 
those written previously had; in fact that the time had ar- 
rived when it would be good policy to retire. Just about 
this time, I would receive a letter from the editor express- 



FORE WORD. vii 



ing his satisfaction with the articles, enclosing some clip- 
ping or card, which he had received, and telling me to con- 
tinue to send the articles until he told me to stop. Then at 
other times, kind friends would drop me a line of encour- 
agement, speaking especially of some one article which had 
met with their appreciation. Without the help so freely 
given in this way I could not have continued. The writer 
had never claimed that his articles were of unusual merit, 
nor has that idea ever possessed him. What has been writ- 
ten has been taken from actual experience, and what has 
seemed to me to be good policy for us to adopt has been 
freely passed along through the columns of "The Manufac- 
turing Jeweler." 

That the articles met with the approval of the retail jew- 
elry trade who read them, the writer has definite knowledge. 
From investigation, however, I have found that many re- 
tailers do not read their trade papers as thoroughly as they 
might. They feel that they are so busy that it is a waste of 
time to do so. If jewelers generally were to read their 
trade papers more thoroughly the trade at large would be 
thousands of dollars better off at the end of each year. We 
read of tricks being played upon a jeweler in one section of 
the country resulting in financial loss. If the accounts were 
read by the trade, each would be on the lookout. But we 
find that the same tricks are worked again and again on jew- 
elers, who from the costliness of their goods cannot afford 
to stand such losses. If the jewelers followed the issues of 
the trade papers, for no other reason than to keep them- 
selves posted as to the latest improved methods for living 
without working, as well as keeping in touch with the old- 
time games, it would be worth their while. But aside from 
the preventative good which comes from reading such pa- 
pers, the careful reader will find many good suggestions con- 



viii FORE WORD. 



tained in each number, which, if followed, will assist materi- 
ally in stimulating his business. 

Read the trade papers; read the editorials; read the con- 
tributed articles; read the news correspondents' letters; read 
the advertisements. You cannot afford to slight any part 
of it. No matter if when you read the article, you find 
that it coincides with your own ideas; no matter if you can 
truthfully say that you knew all this before. It is certainly 
worth while knowing what the opinions of others are, and 
if they agree with your own, so much the better. It is cer- 
tainly a satisfaction to know that others agree with you. 

In writing these articles it has been more difficult to ob- 
tain the subjects than to write the articles themselves. The 
field in the retail jewelry business is quickly covered by a 
writer on general business principles. A technical writer 
may carry on his writings indefinitely with descriptions of ex- 
periments made or facts learned through investigation. The 
articles which I have written were all carefully thought out 
before they were written. To find the time to put these 
thoughts into proper form was sometimes difficult. 

The writing of these articles has been a pleasure to me, 
and through them I have developed a friendship and ac- 
quaintance with the jewelry trade which otherwise would 
have been impossible. To the editor of "The Manufactur- 
ing Jeweler" for his kindly encouragement, and to the jew- 
elry trade for their friendly interest as manifested by their 
letters and calls in person, I wish to extend my sincere and 
thankful appreciation. 

CHARLES T. EVANS. 

Utica, N. Y., January 9, 1908. 



PREFACE BY THE EDITOR. 

o 

MR. EVANS has told, in his "Foreword," how these 
"Essays" came to be written, but he has not told why 
they were collected and published in book form. 

The articles, as they appeared at first from week to week 
in "The Manufacturing Jeweler," and later from month to 
month, attracted wide-spread and favorable attention. 
Readers of all classes, both among the retailers for whom 
they were primarily written, as well as among wholesale 
dealers and manufacturers, took frequent occasion both by 
letter and by personal interview to speak of the "Evans Let- 
ters" in words of the warmest praise. Mr. Evans seems to 
have the faculty of expressing in straightforward, readable 
language the ideas and aspirations which the majority of 
business men believe in and hope for, even if they do not 
always live up to them. His facility, directness and fullness 
of expression, concerning what might be ordinarily consid- 
ered a dry subject, are quite remarkable, especially coming 
from a man without previous literary training. Some of his 
essays on business ethics, and the attributes of personality 
and character necessary for success, are quite equal to any- 
thing Benjamin Franklin ever wrote. 

Appreciating the value of these articles, and realizing the 
ephemeral character of periodical literature, I felt that it was 



x PREFACE. 

a duty I owed to the jewelry trade to preserve these writings 
in a permanent form. I fully understand the financial risk 
involved in the publication of a book appealing to such a 
small circle as constituted by the jewelers, but if I secure a 
return of my investment I shall feel amply satisfied, while 
if I come out of the enterprise with a considerable loss, I 
shall still feel that I have performed a distinct service in 
rescuing these matchless articles from oblivion. 

WALTER B. FROST. 
Providence, R. I., January 25, 1908. 



THE STORE AND ITS DEPARTMENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 



THE RETAIL JEWELRY BUSINESS. 

Its Advantages, Possibilities and Opportunities — Essentials 
for Success and Dangers to be Carefully Avoided by Re- 
tailers. 



R 



OBERT BURNS has well said, 

" O cuid some power the giftie gie us, 
To see ourselves as ithers see us." 



If we could have this power, besides having the ability 
to see our faults and failings, perhaps we would be in a 
better position to see the opportunities contained within 
ourselves and in our business. It is so easy to account 
for failure or defeat foy saying that one's advantages have 
been less, and disadvantages more, than have fallen to 
the lot of other more successful men, and it strikes one 
that fortune has favored them. The trouble with many 
oi us is that we are so busy watching with a jealous eye 
the progress of others, and thinking of our own unsatis- 
factory condition, that we are unable to recognize oppor- 
tunities which come to all of us with more or less fre- 
quency. 

"Fortune knocks once at every man's door," but many 
of us are like the Irishman in the story, who was afraid to 
go to the door, for fear that it was a wolf knocking. 
We all desire success, and read with interest the lives of 
successful men, but we seem to arrive at the conclusion 
that they were men of destiny, or that some unusual cir- 
cumstance has happened to them which has placed them 
in positions of trust, or connected them with men so sit- 
uated as to be able to throw opportunities in their way. 
The energy displayed by some men, to avoid hard or dis- 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



agreeable work, rightly expended, could not fail to land 
them at the height of their ambitions. So, too, with 
those who work and scheme to make a living without 
work. 

Of all businesses of which one can think, to my mind 
the retail jewelry business offers the most attractive 
means of earning one's livelihood, and, while it seldom 
leads to riches, yet it almost surely returns a man the 
means for a good living in exchange for his labors. The 
jeweler is fortunate in his selection of his business in 
that there is coupled with that business repairing depart- 
ments, which fill in time which would otherwise be idled 
away, and which in addition give a man experience worth 
considerable, and help in a decidedly material way to 
pay his expenses and contribute to his profits. This re- 
pairing cultivates within a man the habit of industry, the 
value of which cannot be estimated. The man who has 
very little to do generally gets tired doing it. It has been 
well said, "If you want a thing done, have a busy man 
do it." Because a man is busy it compels him to adopt 
systematic means and methods, or he could not conduct 
his business. The man with lots of repairing cannot 
throw things around on his bench, and wait until cus- 
tomers have made several calls, before he gets around to 
doing the work. 

The jewelry store, to be successful, must be neat and 
clean, thus encouraging the habits of neatness and clean- 
liness. The goods themselves should and must be kept 
looking bright and new ; the cards and tags in like condi- 
tion. This will give you pride in your stock, thus mak- 
ing it possible to make more and better sales. Your re- 
pairing must be well done, the best of material used, the 
different articles repaired, cleaned and polished before 
they are put away. This develops the habits of thor- 
oughness and carefulness. The jeweler has to have work 
ready at certain times agreed upon, has to send for goods 
ordered, etc., all of which makes him prompt in meeting 
promises. These habits once formed are not easily 
chang-ed, and for that reason I consider the retail jewelry 



EVANS'S ESSA Y S . 



business the best business, because, besides furnishing 
one with the means of livelihood, it also furnishes one 
with a moral and business training which fits one to enter 
and carry on successfully any business, the only require- 
ments then being necessary is the ordinary trade knowl- 
edge of that particular business, which to an active mind 
is but the work of a few months to learn. A man who 
can successfully conduct a jewelry store can also success- 
fully conduct any business. I do not refer here to the 
jeweler whose entire stock is limited to a small amount, 
and who after years of business has not grown with the 
times, but to the wide-awake- jeweler, who is so thor- 
oughly interested in his business that he is ready and 
willing to consider (not necessarily adopt) anything 
which may help his business. 

The danger which the jeweler repairer has to run, is 
becoming a mere automaton, instead of a man with con- 
stantly growing powers. Never let the repairing depart- 
ment sap your vitality by the inroads which it makes on 
your time. If you can afford it, employ competent men 
to take this load from your shoulders, thereby enabling 
you to devote your efforts to more profitable things. A 
man can use up more nervous energy mending some 
broken piece of jewelry, than he can replace by a day's 
rest. Also, with how much pleasure can you greet a cus- 
tomer who enters just at that moment? The proprietor 
of the store, expected as he is to wait on most of the 
trade, should be free as possible from the petty cares of 
business, and should feel pleasant when he steps forward 
to greet customers, as much depends on his manner in in- 
fluencing the feelings of customers. Also, if a customer 
happens to enter with a trivial complaint, and the propri- 
etor is feeling pleasant, he can probably handle that com- 
plaint to the complete satisfaction of both, and send the 
customer away with the feeling that Mr. Smith is all 
right. Jumping up from a bench, where he has been 
working on a mean little job, and inwardly cussing about 
it, to be met with a complaint at that time sets his nerves 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



on edge, and he makes a bad job of handling his cus- 
tomer. So, I say, let others do the worrying little jobs 
for you. There are plenty of other things to be done 
about a jewelry store. Why should any one man, unless 
he is totally alone, bear the entire burden of work and 
details of even so small a business as the average retail 
jewelry store? 

Genius, 'tis said, is the ability for hard work. The 
men who make successes of themselves in politics, re- 
ligion, business or sports, will generally be found to be 
men who are possessed of no superior qualifications, but 
have earned their positions in the world through hard 
work. Keeping everlastingly at it, having the one object 
in view, and working for it, will generally enable one to 
accomplish his end. Enthusiasm is necessary. It is per- 
haps a hard matter to enthuse to any great degree under 
adverse circumstances, but even under such conditions, 
enthusiasm will do much to help maintain things at their 
proper standard. 

The jewelry business is a nice business, because it is a 
clean one ; the goods handled are pleasing to the eye, ad- 
mit of handsome window decorations, and are tempting 
to possible customers. The jeweler has one great foe to 
combat, and that is the buying of more goods than he 
can profitably handle. A furniture dealer can only get 
into his place a certain amount of goods, but the jeweler 
can buy in thousands of dollars worth of diamonds and 
put them away in the safe. In stocking a store, and in 
maintaining such a stock, the writer deems it advisable 
to put most of our money into goods which have the most 
ready sales, and for which there are the most calls, and 
into goods which cost comparatively little compared with 
the size of them. Take silverware, clocks, and cut glass. 
What a stock of either one can buy for what a few loose 
diamonds will cost. Mind you, the writer believes in a 
jeweler carrying expensive goods, and selling them too, 
but if you have a good stock of other goods, like watches, 
chains, rings and card jewelry, you will have the goods 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 5 



oftenest bought, and will be able to show most of your 
callers what they ask, and if your capital is limited and 
precludes your carrying much of a selection of high- 
priced gems, your customers will wait while you get them 
to show. The danger of over-buying is one which the 
jeweler should try and safeguard against. Wholesalers 
are all fine men, and are willing to extend liberal terms 
of credit to customers of whose honesty there is no ques- 
tion, but the man who takes the long time, invariably 
pays for it, either in loss of discount, or otherwise. A 
tray of diamonds would stock an ordinary jewelry store 
with plated hollow ware, clocks, chains and card jewelry. 
The wise man learns how to limit his stock. In these 
days of mail and express service, there is no need of car- 
rying stock in the safe, except in the fall of the year, on 
some lines which it is hard to get just when you want 
them. Buy what you need for immediate use; fill in as 
occasion demands, and thus keep your stock fresh and 
up-to-date. It is no sign of exceptional business ability 
to buy in an unusual supply of goods for which no imme- 
diate need exists. Any one can buy goods if his credit is 
good, but it takes a man of executive ability to know 
when to refuse. The writer does not mean that the man 
who always treats commercial travelers as though they 
were bores or highwaymen is an exceptionally bright bus- 
iness man. There is a happy medium between reckless- 
ness and extreme carefulness in buying, and that is the 
path we should try to walk in. If we need goods we 
must have them, but if we need two or three articles, it is 
not necessary to buy a dozen for fear that the traveling 
man will think us small. The traveling representative is 
out to sell goods, but he feels better satisfaction over the 
bills he sells to careful buyers than the larger ones bought 
by careless ones. 

We should learn to say "no" graciously yet firmly ; gra- 
ciously, that no offence can be taken ; firmly, that our in- 
tentions cannot be doubted. The traveling man is one of 
the best friends the retailer has, and it pays to cultivate 
him. If you trust to his judgment on some things, he 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



will not let you go astray. Instances have been told me 
where those who know it all have been allowed to buy 
old, out-of-date goods. 

The jeweler labors under one disadvantage which other 
dealers perhaps do not, and that is the long hours, the 
length of time it takes to open and close the store, and 
the way he ties himself to his business. We should try 
and develop the different sides of man, the spiritual, men- 
tal, physical and social. Do not become a man with but 
one idea. Your efforts for promoting your business will 
count for more, because of relaxation and exercise in 
other ways. Working in one line becomes monotonous. 
So the jeweler should endeavor to so divide his time, that 
he can occasionally visit the theatre, a football game, a 
social event, and feel fresh enough on Sunday to attend 
church. Besides, from the direct benefits derived from 
attendance at these different affairs, there are indirect 
benefits which will help improve your business. The 
people you meet in this way all have more or less occa- 
sion to visit a jeweler's establishment, and by acquaint- 
ance with you, and meeting you occasionally, will have 
you in mind when they need anything. A friend of mine 
one time stopped in the store and showed me a diamond 
ring bought at another store, and said that he would have 
come to see us, but he never gave it a thought until after 
he had made the purchase. At the time this seemed 
rather thin to me, but as he has since bought two dia- 
mond rings from us, besides other goods, it proves to me 
that had he thought of the the first time, he would have 
made that purchase from us. 

This merely goes to illustrate that one is perhaps los- 
ing sales every day, by keeping" himself locked in his store 
waiting for customers, while his competitors are keeping 
themselves in touch with prospective customers by at- 
tending the different affairs, which he naturally would 
were they employed by another. A man should not be 
too hard a master of himself. Many men are their own 
worst enemies, and many, too, are their, own taskmasters. 
It is not necessarily the man who bustles about his busi- 
ness who is the best business man, but he appears busy to 



EVANS'S ESSAYS 



the onlooker. We should always be busy, especially 
when our regular callers stop in, as appearances count for 
a great deal. We should also preserve a little independ- 
ence in regard to doing work too quickly. Sometimes in 
trying to be accommodating, we give people the idea that 
we were waiting for the job which they brought in, and 
the writer has heard the remark made, that other stores — 
where the job had been declined — were too busy to do it, 
but so and so had been glad to get it to do. A jeweler, 
in addition to the regular qualifications necessary for suc- 
cess, must be a diplomat, and we find that the successful 
jewelers are those who combine this quality with the rest. 
The faculty of saying the right thing at the right time; 
of treating some remarks as a joke with some customers, 
and of resisting the desire to jest with others; making 
concessions when necessary or advisable ; refraining from 
so doing when our dignity demand it. All of the differ- 
ent situations and conditions demand that tact and diplo- 
macy be used, and he who best understands how to use 
it, will obtain the best results. 

Let us therefore resolve that our business is the best 
business ; that we would not be in any other business if 
we could; that we are successful, and will be more suc- 
cessful ; that we will use all comers as though they were 
our only customers, and we depended upon them for sup- 
port, and that we will aim high, and if we are unable to 
reach the heights to which we aspire, we will have the 
satisfaction that we have done our best. 

" Honor and shame from no condition rise, 
Act well your part, there all the honor lies." 




EVANS' S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER II. 



STARTING A STORE WITH SMALL CAPITAL. 

A Careful Division of $2,500 so that a Fine Showing is 
Made, and Only Saleable Goods are Secured — Buy Your 
First Stock with Your Own Money, thus Save Your 
Credit for Later Necessities. 

MOST young men are ambitious, and desirous of 
worldly success because of wHat that success 
will bring. In any line of business you will find 
that the employe is anxious to become the employer. It 
has been said that it is not what one earns, but what he 
saves, which will make a man wealthy. And it has also 
been said that a man cannot become rich while working 
for wages. Of course, the element of chance enters into 
every transaction, however small. Many engage in busi- 
ness without success, and such would have done better 
to have remained as employes. If a man is willing to 
work a little harder for himself than he~Hid for his em- 
ployer ; if he is willing to make haste slowly, then he 
can count almost surely on eventually being successful. 
The trouble with many who contemplate engaging in 
business is that they wish to carry as large a stock, and 
as expensive goods, as do their competitors who have 
been engaged in business for twenty years or more. 

Years ago a young man starting in the jewelry busi- 
ness was satisfied to begin small, and, because of such 
beginning, he was the complete master of his business 
from start to finish. To- begin business under a crush- 
ing load of indebtedness, which constantly grows 
heavier, is, to say the least, discouraging. What satis- 
faction can there be to see in our showcases expensive 
goods which in reality belong to our creditors. But this 
article is not intended to tell what not to do, but how to 



EVANS' S ESSAYS. 



start a jewelry business with a limited capital, what 
goods to handle, and so on. 

What is more natural than that a young man em- 
ployed as a watchmaker, whose work is perfectly satis- 
factory, and whose presence in the store is an added 
drawing card for trade, should begin to think about 
starting in business for himself? He can do the same 
work just as well for himself as for another. The same 
customers who come to patronize him now will do so 
when he is in business for himself. He knows just 
what his employer makes through the sales which he 
(the employe) makes, and naturally thinks that that 
profit might just as well have been his had he been in 
business for himself. All this is true. Every man has 
his friends, more or less, according as he makes the ef- 
fort to be agreeable. These friends will not only come 
themselves to trade, but will do their best to encourage 
their friends to come to see you for their jewelry pur- 
chases. Our young man is capable, earnest and willing. 
He has cultivated friendship, and saved his money, until 
he feels that he has enough to make the start. Then, he 
launches forth on his business career, which may be one 
that will last a half-century. The jewelry business is a 
peculiar one, in that while few obtain wealth through its 
conduct, yet most of its devotees earn a comfortable liv- 
ing. 

The young man who has $2,500 to invest in opening 
up a jewelry business has got to figure things down very 
close, in order to obtain nice fixtures, and even a fair as- 
sortment of medium priced goods. With care, however, 
one can buy, with such an amount, a comparatively good 
stock of the goods for which there is the most call, and 
the writer w T ill try to tell how to do it. It has been stated 
by some trade paper writers that if a man has $2,500 
he can buy $5,000 worth of goods, half on credit. Sup- 
posing he takes advantage of such generosity on the part 
of the wholesaler, in what position does he place him- 
self? Can he contract other bills for desirable goods, 
which he has need of, if one-half of his store is owned 



io EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

by others than himself? A young man opening up in 
business cannot foresee what kind of goods he will have 
sale for. Perhaps the very things he has bought will 
linger in his cases, while he must needs order other 
goods, for which there is demand. He is in the same 
position as the retailer in buying goods for holiday trade 
three or four months ahead of time. He buys an aver- 
age stock, that is he buys a little of everything, replen- 
ishing his entire stock, getting ready for holiday busi- 
ness. Perhaps the demand will be along two or three 
particular lines, which he must order and reorder, while 
his other goods are undisturbed in their several places in 
stock. The retailer, with prestige and capital back of 
him, can stand this. Not so, however, the young man 
who, just starting in business, has already reached the 
limit of his credit. Better begin in a small way. The 
Good Book says, "Owe no man anything." This is an 
impossibility in conducting a jewelry business, but it is 
certainly a great satisfaction to be able to have a clean 
slate occasionally, rather than never to draw a free 
breath. 

Our young man is going to own his own store right 
from the start. He does not intend to start in with his 
business receipt mortgaged. What goods can he carry, 
and what must he temporarily leave out of his stock. 
First, he must arrange his show room. Make it com- 
paratively small. This can be done by erecting a par- 
tition, dividing the show room from the work room. 
This partition can be moved further back, or removed 
entirely, as the business grows. It is better to have a 
small store, well filled, than to have a large, roomy store, 
with very little in it. It is better to have a cosy, cheerful 
looking store, than a large, chilly, empty place. Let us 
allow $300 for fixtures. With this amount we can pro- 
cure say, two wall cases ; one for silverware, and one for 
clocks, and three or four counter cases, with tables, a 
watch rack, watchmaker's bench, trays, and other neces- 
sary fixtures, such as mirrors, and so on. I would ad- 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. n 



vise getting good fixtures, if necessary getting one less 
show case. 

Having purchased our fixtures we come to the stock. 
What goods shall we carry? Diamonds are out of the 
question, for should we invest our little all we could pro- 
cure only a fair assortment. Watches are good stock 
at any time of year, and the writer has appropriated 
$500 for the watch stock, and while with this amount it 
will be impossible to carry any expensive watches, still 
one can make a fair showing. We will have twelve 
ladies' gold filled watches, with Waltham or Elgin move- 
ments, and the same number of gents' gold filled cases 
with the same movements ; six ladies' silver watches, 
three gentlemen's silver watches, six gentlemen's nickel 
watches, and two or three gold watches for ladies, all 
complete with movements. 

This can be done with the amount appropriated, and will 
make a good showing. Other more expensive goods can 
be obtained at slight effort, and very promptly, and any 
one who really wishes to trade with you will give you a 
chance to send and get the goods. 

We will appropriate $350 for rings, because watches 
and rings are the best stocks a jeweler has, for, although 
styles may change in these goods as in other lines, yet 
there is never a watch or ring made but what some one 
will like it and buy it. This amount I would divide as 
follows : $100 for ladies' stone and signet rings ; $100 for 
men's stone and signet rings ; $25 for baby rings ; $25 
for boys' rings ; $50 for plain rings ; $25 for chased 
rings, and $25 for little girls' rings. This will give a 
fair assortment of these goods, and will make quite a 
good display. 

Next we will take clocks. One hundred and fifty dol- 
lars spent in clocks will make an elegant display. Twelve 
parlor clocks, enameled wood, different styles, can be ob- 
tained for $48. One dozen gilt, different sizes, ranging 
in price from $1 to $3 each can be bought for $24. One 
dozen kitchen clocks will cost $18. Two dozen assorted 



12 EVANS' S ESS A YS . 

alarms will cost $20. One dozen small porcelain time 
clocks will cost $15. Five or six hanging clocks, cost- 
ing from $3 to $7.50 each will take $25, the balance of 
our clock appropriation. 

For silver plated hollow ware we will spend $100. 
With this amount we can buy three medium priced tea 
sets, $25; four cake baskets, $10; six bread trays, $12; 
three bonbon dishes, $4.50; four butter dishes, $8; one 
dozen children's cups, assorted prices, $12 ; two baking 
dishes, $6 ; two ferneries, $5 ; two spoon trays, $3 ; three 
fruit bowls, $10.50; one dozen napkin rings, $4.50. 

In silver plated flat ware of reliable brand $100 will 
buy the following articles, without mentioning the indi- 
vidual cost of these goods : one dozen butter knives, one 
dozen sugar shells, three berry spoons, three salad 
spoons, three cold meat forks, small size; three cold meat 
forks, large size; three gravy ladles, three jelly spoons, 
six sets fruit knives, three dozen medium knives, plain 
handles ; three dozen medium knives, fancy handles, and 
the same quantities of forks ; two dozen teaspoons, plain, 
and two dozen fancy ; two dozen table spoons ; two dozen 
dessert spoons, and one dozen pickle forks. 

Of ladies' chains $60 will buy a fair assortment, num- 
bering twenty-four chains, ranging in cost price from 
$12 per dozen to $60 per dozen, and sub-divided as fol- 
lows : six at $1 each, six at $1.50 each, three at $2.50, 
three at $3 each, three at $4 each, three at $5 each. 

Gentlemen's chains must, of course, be carried in both 
single vest chains and Dickens chains. For this stock 
we will appropriate $75, which we will expend as fol- 
lows: six vest chains at $1.50 each, three at $2.50 each, 
three at $3.50 each, three at $4 each, and one at $4.50 
each. In Dickens chains we will have one dozen, di- 
vided as follows: six at $1.50 each, three at $3 each, and 
three at $4 each. 

We will expend $75 for our brooch stock, buying al- 
most entirely gold filled ones. Customers who buy solid 
gold articles are not always among a new store's first 
customers. A half dozen dainty little brooches in solid 



EVANSES ESS A YS. 13 



gold will be enough to display a jeweler's good taste, 
and customers who really wish to trade with you will 
wait for you to get them a selection package of the goods 
in which they are particularly interested. Thirty-five 
dollars of our brooch appropriation we will put into solid 
gold; $35 into gold filled brooches, and $5 into silver 
ones. 

In chatelaine pins $35 will buy a fair assortment; $25 
being spent for gold filled ones, and $10 *or silver ones. 
Neck chains and lockets have come to be one of the jew- 
eler's most profitable stocks, and we must have a fair line 
of each. Accordingly we will spend $40 for neck chains 
and $50 for lockets, keeping almost entirely to gold filled 
ones. With this expenditure we can have about two 
dozen neck chains and about three dozen lockets. This 
will offer the intending purchaser a fair selection. 

Our cuff button stock will take $75 more of our 
money, which we will spend as follows : We will buy 
three dozen gold filled buttons, at an average cost of $12 
per dozen ; one dozen gold buttons, at an average cost 
of $2.50 per pair ; one dozen sterling silver buttons, $6, 
and one dozen plated buttons at $3 per dozen. 

Our scarf pin stock will consist of gold, gold filled and 
silver, divided as follows : $50 expended in gold stick 
pins, which will buy three dozen of them at prices rang- 
ing from 75 cents to> $3 ; $20 in gold filled stick pins will 
buy about four dozen good ones, and the remaining $5 
will buy about two dozen assorted silver^ones. 

Our bracelet stock will take $50, and our fobs $50 
more. Our hat pins will cost $25 more. It is not nec- 
essary to specify how to expend these amounts, but gold 
filled or plated goods will sell the most readily. 

For our sterling silverware department we will ex- 
pend $100, as follows : two cold meat forks, three dozen 
teaspoons, one set forks, one set knives, two cream la- 
dles, five bonbon spoons, two jelly spoons, two pie 
servers, two berry spoons, two gravy ladles, three olive 
spoons, three olive forks, one set each of berry forks, 
oyster forks, fruit knives and coffee spoons. This is 
enough variety to start in with. A small assortment of 



14 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 

brushes, combs and mirrors, and other goods of this, 
class, in silver and silver plate, will take an even $100. 
Properly expended a respectable showing can be made 
with this amount. 

A two dozen assortment of medium priced fountain 
pens can be purchased for $25, and will be found to be 
one of the best stocks to handle, and one which it is pos>- 
sible to turn over often. 

Collar buttons must be worn by all, "however rich or 
poor, young or old. Ten dollars will buy a fair supply 
of these goods, which are generally bought in gold filled 
or plated. 

Jewelry cases are necessary in order to pass out the 
articles of various kinds which we have for sale. The 
proper display of an article in a case built to show off its 
beauties to the best possible advantage will make many 
a sale which would otherwise be lost. In opening a 
store be sure to have a fair stock of these useful and 
necessary articles, which, while given away, yet bring 
many dollars to our till. For the purchase of these 
goods the writer has appropriated fifty dollars, and with 
which the following supplies can be bought : one dozen 
O size velvet watch cases, and one dozeri^?ach of the fol- 
lowing velvet cases : For 16s watches, cuff buttons, 
scarf pins, and brooches, and two dozen velvet cases for 
rings. In paper boxes the following can be bought : one 
gross ring boxes, two gross nest boxes, one-half gross 
each for thimbles, scarf pins, single tea, six teas, dessert 
spoons, table spoons, one-quarter gross hat pin boxes, 
one ream tissue, and a box of rubber bands. 

A sign over the store in keeping with the establish- 
ment, will cost about $15. The balance of our money, 
which is less than $100, we will apply on the purchase 
of material, such as watch mainsprings, jobbing mate- 
rial and jobbing stones. 

To recapitulate. Our money will have been spent as 
follows : 



EVANS'S ESS A YS . 15 

Fixtures, $300; watches, $500; rings, $350; 
gentlemen's chains, $75; silver plated 
hollow ware, $100; silver plated flat 
ware, $100 $1,425 00 

Ladies' chains, $60 ; brooches, $75 ; chate- 
laine pins, $35 170 00 

Neck chains, $50; lockets, $50; cuff buttons, 

$75 165 00 

Scarf pins, $75; bracelets, $50; fobs, $50... 175 00 

Hiat pins, $25; sterling silverware, $100; 

clocks, $150 275 OG 

Fountain pens, $25; brushes, combs, mirrors, 

etc., $100 125 00 

Collar buttons, $10; jewelry cases, $50; sign, 

$15; 75 00 

Watch material, jewelry material, jobbing 

stones, etc 90 00 

$2,500 00 

Criticism might be made that the stock will be almost 
entirely of cheap goods, but the writer can assure any 
new seeker for trade, .that people will patronize him the 
first time for some inexpensive article. Another thing, 
by buying goods in gold filled you obtain a good show 
of reliable goods, which are new and up-to-date. If, 
however, you have bought some goods which fail to 
meet with popular approval, your loss is not so great, 
nor do you have to leave a large amount of capital in- 
vested. As will be seen, we have bought a stock for the 
amount of cash which we have on hand. If it is neces- 
sary to buy other goods we will have a little cash coming 
in from the sale of some of the articles already bought, 
and, then again, we can obtain if necessary goods called 
for and not in stock, on memorandum, or on credit. 

If, however, a man had utilized his limi,t_of credit in 
fitting out his store, he would find himself to be under 
the same disadvantage regarding goods called for and 
which he has not in stock, and he does not know where 



16 EVANS'S ESS A YS 



to turn to get them. Creditors never want their money 
when they are selling goods, but they cfo at other times. 
Another thing about buying low priced goods : it affords 
one the opportunity to find out in which direction his 
trade tends. Perhaps he will have an entirely different 
class of trade from what the store had where he was pre- 
viously employed. 

To the young man about to engage in business, my 
advice would be to consider well the step before he takes 
it When you start in, be your own boss. Do not let 
any jobber through friendliness (?) force you in beyond 
your depth. It does not require ability to buy goods, 
but it does require ability to say "No," as occasion re- 
quires. The idea of buying goods is to sell them at a 
profit, not merely to buy what appears to be pretty. To 
buy rose finished goods when your trade prefers bright 
finish is nonsensical. In buying your goods be careful 
not to buy any goods which are too pronounced in style. 

Confine your purchases to a few good houses with 
whom you have become acquainted in your previous po- 
sition. They will take care of you and will be glad to 
furnish you with necessary goods on memorandum. 
This, in itself, is worth considerable. The ability to 
send a request for a selection package and receive it 
back as soon as the express will bring Tt, is certainly 
gratifying. Many a sale is made through memorandum 
goods, as customers often feel that they are seeing some- 
thing which is entirely new. 

To' sum it all up, get a fair location, where the rent is 
not excessive. It is not necessary to get a store on the 
main street. Your stock may fit in better in some other 
location. We all want "lookers" and buyers, but it is 
poor satisfaction to have a continual run of people, all 
asking for goods which you have not got in stock. Bet- 
ter have your store located where you can grow up with 
your trade. The majority of people improve their con- 
ditions every year and have more money to spend for 
jewelry. Cultivating this class of people will prove a 
winning way. 



EVANS'S ESS A YS, 17 



CHAPTER III. 



THE REPAIRING DEPARTMENT 

The Repair Department of a Retail Store Most Important, 
and, Properly Handled, Very Profitable — Some Rules 
For Good Management. 

WHATEVER the size stock a jewelry store may 
carry, it must have its repair department, thor- 
oughly organized, with the different material 
systematically arranged. Of course, the mammoth es- 
tablishments of the large cities consider the repairing 
department a secondary consideration, but to the aver- 
age jeweler the repairing department is the mainstay of 
the business. In the smaller towns, the jeweler r s is re- 
garded as a general repair shop, and he is brought a 
great variety of articles for his attention. He is expected 
to be able to repair a chronograph or mend a broken 
washing machine. It is not my intention to write an ar- 
ticle which will apply to either of the above, but strike 
the happy medium of the majority class. These are the 
jewelers of the larger towns and the small cities through- 
out the land. 

There are several reasons why it pays to push the re- 
pair department. First, it appeals to every one who 
owns a watch, clock, or jewelry of any description, which 
needs the attention of the jeweler at various times. By 
conducting this department, we become acquainted with 
prospective customers for our goods, whom we might 
not meet in any other way. In a great many stores, they 
do not handle their repairing in a systematic way, but 
allow work to lie around for days, or even weeks, be- 
fore attending to it. Such treatment means that the cus- 
tomer will not come again. If the work is well done and 
promptly done it means further business with the same 
people. 



18 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 

My second reason for conducting this department is, 
there is good money in it. The material is comparatively 
inexpensive, and the principal cost is the time expended. 
There is no branch of the business which pays as well 
as a good repair department, under a competent man 
who understands his business. 

There are several general principles which are neces- 
sary for a successful conducting of this department. 

First, the work must be well done. We will do all the 
work it is possible for us to do right in our own shop, 
but work which we are not competent to do we will send 
away to houses which make a specialty of difficult work. 
If it is necessary to send a job away, we will tell the cus- 
tomer so, frankly, and request the necessary time to send 
it away and get it back again, and explain that a more 
satisfactory job will be the result. People respect you 
more for telling the truth than they would to have you 
say you will do it yourself, and then have to put "them 
off from day to day when they call after it. 

Second, have the work done promptly. Do not prom- 
ise too many "to-day" jobs. Some times a lot of these 
accumulate, and the work not going as nicely as other 
days, a lot of disappointed customers is the result. Make 
it a rule to allow several days to do a job but do not wait 
till that day to do it. Keep the work caught up and 
avoid making excuses and acquiring the habit of prevari- 
cation. 

Third, on all kinds of work, as far as possible establish 
a price, so that each one in the store will give the same 
price, and the same price for the same kind of work will 
be given the customer each time. On work where it is 
almost impossible to quote a price at once, if necessary, 
have the customer leave it long enough for you to make 
the necessary examination and estimating, so that you 
can tell them what it will cost. It is a mistake to give 
people the idea that a job, either repair or new, will cost, 
only a nominal amount. It is hard work to adjust our 
ideas of nominal charge to theirs. It is better to have 
a distinct understanding of the price to be charged, and 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 19 

let them take it if they do not want to leave it. Cus^ 
tomers demand good work and should pay for it. 

Fourth, do not do cheap work. People remember the 
quality of a job long after they have forgotten the price. 
Never soft solder an article which should be hard sol- 
dered. It is not satisfactory to you or them. People 
whose trade is worth having are not looking for the 
"cheapest place in town" to have their watches and jew- 
elry repaired or having their diamonds remounted. An- 
other phase of the question overlooked by the cheap 
watch repair man is the additional number of watches 
which he must "fix" in order to come out even, to say 
nothing of the guarantees to be made good. 

Fifth, be thorough in your work. A job well done 
will stay done. If you are a particular workman, you 
will get lots of work sent you which other repairers 
imagine they have fixed. How pleasant it is to have a 
customer refer a friend to you, with the remark that "if 
he cannot fix your watch no one can" ! In all cases 
where work is brought you which has been in other shops 
without satisfaction, make a special effort to please, as 
you owe it to your customer and yourself : to your cus- 
tomer for recommending you and to yourself to sustain 
the reputation given you. If you can put a watch in first- 
class shape which has failed to perform properly, the 
owner will speak of it to all of his friends and ac- 
quaintances. 




20 EVANS'S ESS A YS 



CHAPTER IV. 



SYSTEM IN HANDLING REPAIR WORK. 

Why a System is Necessary and What Form this Should 
Take — Don't Take Anybody's Word about the Condition 
of a Broken Article — Examine it in the Customer's 
Presence — Keep as Complete Records as Possible. 

WHEN we stop to consider the number of arti- 
cles of different kinds which a jeweler handles 
during the course of a year's business, it ap- 
pears that a system is necessary, rigidly enforced, 
properly to take care of these jobs. Think of the 
watches, clocks, rings, pins, spectacles, etc., left with 
the retail jeweler during a single week; of how each ar- 
ticle, though its intrinsic worth is infinitesimal, yet is val- 
uable to the owner thereof to an extent only discover- 
able when it is lost. In the course of business occa- 
sionally something may be lost, but a system will go a 
long way towards making such an event impossible. 
Then, too, repair work is left in different quantities on 
different days, varying with the weather. Some people 
always want their work in a hurry, and to hold their 
custom it is necessary to accommodate them, but we should 
be careful not to train all of our customers the same way. 
There is a limit to human capacity, and if you get custo- 
mers in the habit of expecting work to be ready for them 
when they get through with their shopping, you will en- 
counter difficulties over broken promises. Your jeweler 
may have work enough already laid out ahead of him to 
keep him going for several days, all of which is wanted 
"at once." There are instances in the writer's knowl- 
edge where good workmen have made a change through 
no other reason than the fact that they were rushed 
continuously. All ordinary work, wherever possible, 
should not be promised in less than three or four days. 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 21 

Under such an arrangement, if you have an accident and 
break a stone which it is necessary to send for, you can 
receive it back before it is called for. Of course, we do 
not expect accidents to happen, but sometimes they do. 
If it is necessary to send a job away, say so to the cus- 
tomer, and obtain the necessary time in which to do so. 

Complete records should be kept of all repairs, viz. : 
Name of owner, article left, who repaired by, repairs 
made, and charges. Each envelope or tag should be 
numbered with the serial number of the job, and should 
be filed away alphabetically. In many stores, where 
there is a lot of this work handled, and where several 
drawers are necessary for the jewelry work, the work 
is divided among them as follows, each drawer being al- 
phabetically arranged : One drawer will contain all 
work left within a week ; another, jobs left upwards of 
one week, and less than a year; and a third drawer all 
work left more than a year. Such- subdivision may seem 
unnecessary, but it does away with a lot of handling of 
old envelopes each time a job is called for. The major- 
ity of jewelry, optical and engraving jobs, are called for 
promptly, and only a small proportion are left for an 
indefinite time. In our watch repairing departmjent, 
notice should be taken of all watches left over a month, 
and a postal card or letter should be sent to the customer, 
notifying him that the watch is ready for delivery, and 
that you would like to have it called for promptly. This 
will generally bring the desired results. This procedure 
is especially necessary when the customer is carrying 
one of your watches, while his is being repaired. It is 
better for the jeweler to have work called for promptly, 
as the longer a watch or clock is left, the more chance 
there is that other work (and for which no charge can 
be made) may be necessary. This applies more espec- 
ially to mainsprings. 

Another matter over which we should exercise the 
utmost care is the receiving of repairs without examina- 
tion, and accepting the customer's statements regarding 
the condition of the article or articles left and the repairs 



22 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

which he deems necessary. Take, for instance, the cus- 
tomer rushing in with a watch which he says needs clean- 
ing, and asking you what the charge will be for cleaning. 
This sounds very reasonable, and oftentimes the je\veler 
will name his charge and allow the customer to depart 
with the amount of the charge firmly fixed in his mind. 
Better have him wait "just a minute," while you make a 
quick examination, and perhaps you will find that, just 
as the customer says, it "needs cleaning," but, also, that 
it needs, more than it needs cleaning, a new balance staff, 
a pivot or a jewel. Having a distinct knowledge of its 
condition, you can quote a price accordingly, thus saving 
future arguments regarding charges. 

So, too, with jewelry brought in envelopes or handed 
you on the street, with the statement that the stone needs 
resetting, and giving the impression that all the necessary 
parts are therein. Better look at the contents of the en- 
velope while the customer is right there, as the next day 
will be too late. The writer does not believe that "all 
men are liars," but all are liable to mistakes, and the 
jeweler cannot afford to pay for any mistakes but his 
own. If a stone is chipped or missing from a ring or 
brooch brought in for repairs ; if a lense in a pair of spec- 
tacles is likewise damaged, call the customer's attention 
to the fact, and thus obviate complaints ordinarily made. 
Cultivate the habit of observation. Look for defects in 
articles, not in persons. There are some in both, but it 
is the first only which it pays to look for. 

Keep the most complete records of repairs which you 
can. You will find this to be your protection from im- 
position regarding guarantees and false claims regarding 
watches and jewelry said to have been left. If you talk 
records to some of these people and tell them to call in 
again about the work which they claim to have left, and 
assure them if it was left you have it on your books, you 
will find that they do not call again. If you make a busi- 
ness of calling for clocks to repair, keep a memorandum, 
so that you will remember to call the day specified and 
return it the same way. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 23 



CHAPTER V. 



THE ENGRAVING DEPARTMENT. 

How Engraving is Instrumental in Influencing Sales — 
Don't be too Generous with Offers of Free Engraving — 
Combination with Other Jewelers in Town will Tend 
to Limit Gratuity Work. 

THE jewelry store, while not a department store, 
has its several departments, each of which plays 
a part more or less important, in making the 
business a success. It is my intention to speak about 
the engraving department in this article. This branch 
is, to my mind, the most important in influencing sales. 
Aill readers are familiar with the ease with which some 
sales are made, by making mention of the fact that "we 
will engrave it for you free of charge ;" also of the 
many sales which would be lost otherwise. In some 
cities the bulk of trade on articles which have been en- 
graved naturally falls to the man who* turns out the best 
job of engraving. So, we will find some stores selling 
most of the wedding presents of silverware, and not 
selling an unusual amount of anything else, which shows 
that their engraving is instrumental in effecting these 
increased sales. 

Our engraving therefore is a valuable asset of the busi- 
ness, and should be carefully fostered and helped. We 
should begin a campaign of education regarding the 
value of engraving. A great many customers are un- 
familiar with the length of time it takes to engrave an ar- 
ticle, and do not realize that their demands are excessive, 
when they leave their order for free engraving. The 
trade generally should adopt some rules regarding the 
amount of free engraving to include with different arti- 
cles, and also what charges to be made for the same en- 



24 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

graving on articles brought in which have been pur- 
chased elsewhere. Customers buying a set of plated tea- 
spoons, which pay the jeweler fifty cents profit, may re- 
quest engraving to be put on them which at ordinary 
rates would cost seventy-five cents to one dollar. The 
jeweler (particularly he who does his own work, or has 
it done by one of his own staff) may consent to do this 
excess engraving through fear that having made the sale, 
it will be lost should he refuse. This does not neces- 
sarily follow, because all people are not as unreasonable 
as they seem, and make such requests through ignorance 
of the time it takes to do such work. We have even met 
those who have the impression that the work is done with 
a stamp or stencil, and have the idea that it is but the 
work of five minutes to engrave a half-dozen spoons. 
This is the jeweler's opportunity and his duty to give the 
customer a little instruction in the art of engraving, and 
the cases are few indeed when a sale will be lost by limit- 
ing the engraving. If you willingly consent to do an un- 
reasonable amount of engraving, the customer will not 
know that he is receiving anything extra, but will think 
that he has merely received what it is the custom of the 
store to allow in this line. If you allow a customer to 
have "Father and Mother to Fritzy, Christmas, 1907." 
engraved free on a $1 teaspoon, what can you charge him 
for engraving the same amount in the cap of a watch, 
which he has bought elsewhere, and brings to you to en- 
grave because he likes your style ? People should under- 
stand that there is a value to such work, and that if it is 
given free, it is no sign that it does not cost money. The 
store which sends out its engraving is more careful in 
the matter of allowance in such matters. When you stop 
to figure so much a letter, you can appreciate this fact. 
Another thing, it is a bad thing to educate people to ex- 
pect so much in the line of engraving, because as the holi- 
day season approaches^ with its crush of such work, it 
throws a heavy burden upon your engraver, and if you 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 25 

allow early buyers to demand so much in the way of en- 
graving, thus appropriating your engraver's time, you will 
lose more in the end by being unable to accommodate 
those whose purchase of single articles will far and away 
outvalue the purchases of sets of articles demanding so 
much engraving. Try the plan this holiday time of lim- 
iting your engraving, especially of silverware. Suppose 
that you do lose a half-dozen sales of this kind. Is it not 
better to have your man ready to engrave a monogram 
on a fifty dollar watch, or inside a diamond ring, than to 
have to put off such customers for a day or two, because 
of work promised ahead. Then, too, during holiday 
times your engraver may be of more value selling goods, 
and you do not want to crowd him too much. 

Of course, as one jeweler wrote to me, competition has 
a great deal to do with custom, but if one jeweler adopts 
the plan of limiting the amount of free engraving, and 
talks it to his competitors, he will find they are just as 
willing to adopt such a measure as he is. The optical 
business is an instance of how conversation and trade 
papers can assist in the adopting of an unwritten code of 
ethics, and where each one has been made to see that their 
interests are common. In many of the cities minimum 
price-lists of optical goods have been adopted, with great 
benefits to all. One instance of the optical branch will 
illustrate my point that one does not lose when he refuses 
to be imposed upon by customers. A woman once, 
in company with her husband, came in our store to 
see about glasses, and, after examination, we found that 
it was their desire to obtain glasses on trial to be returned 
if unsatisfactory. Upon our refusal to entertain such a 
proposition, they said that they had been refused by an- 
other optician, but would look further. The next 
morning, meeting Optician No. 1, the writer spoke to him 
about it, and found out that the couple, after making a 
third call, had gone back to the place where they had first 
called, and had bought glasses and paid for them. It 
would be the same way about free engraving. If cus- 



26 



EVANS' S ESSAYS 



tomers walked out of one store because of being limited 
in this matter, and found that it was the same elsewhere, 
they would not run around any further, but would either 
buy in the second place or go back to the first place again. 
Customers lost through enforcing rules are made up by 
the gains from those lost by others. 

Where engraving is brought in, a fair charge should be 
made for the work, as otherwise people will not appre- 
ciate what you give free in this line. A distinction has 
to be made, necessarily, between a monogram put on a 
$50 watch and a $2 locket. Because you would engrave 
a locket for fifty cents to one dollar, it does not follow 
that you would engrave a watch for the same price. 
Such work on a watch case should bring at least $2.50 
and upwards, according to style. Engraving the cap of a 
watch should never be done for less than $1 and upward, 
according to amount of engraving, etc. The laborer is 
worthy of his hire, and besides the time it takes to do the 
work, we should also consider the length of time it took 
to learn the trade. Have your work of the highest stand- 
ard, and charge enough for it, or show its value by lim- 
itation of free engraving. If you do good work you will 
be kept busy any way. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 27 



CHAPTER VI. 



ADVERTISING BY THE RETAILER. 

Does Advertising Pay? — Yes, if Proper Attention is Devoted 
to it — The Newspaper Advertisement Supplemented by 
Booklets is the Best Medium of Publicity. 

ADVERTISING is that subject which, while ever 
old, yet is also ever new. We may read and 
study advertisements and advertising matter un- 
til we feel that there is nothing more to be said upon the 
subject. Yet, even if nothing new can be learned from 
the continual repetitions of these articles, still the mind 
is enabled to grasp with a better understanding truths 
which must certainly make one a better business man. It 
is a good deal with a writer on any of these trade topics as 
it is with the minister of the Gospel. There are certain 
subjects of interest to all, and on these themes one must 
orate, as to go without these bounds is to enter the realms 
of the uninteresting, and therefore uninstructive. 
Therefore we find that preachers are sometimes at a loss 
for suitable topics, and for newer and better ways of 
treating those which have served their turn over and over. 
One divine said that he was satisfied if he could offer" 
one new thought in each sermon, thereby giving his con- 
gregation one new idea to carry home with them. But 
after all, it is the subjects with which we are familiar, 
and which we ourselves understand, which we like to have 
discussed, and while we may not always agree with the 
speaker or writer in the statements made, yet even if our 
opposition is aroused to the ideas promulgated, we are 
the better for having listened or read the article, because 
our thinkings powers have been aroused. 

Why then do we advertise? It is surely not because 
we wish to give a certain portion of our receipts or 
profits to the newspaper or printer. It is because we ex- 



28 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

pect to get back much more than we put into it. Whether 
we do or not is a matter for conjecture. Some contend 
that advertising pays; others, that it does not. Whom 
shall we believe? To my mind, the advertising backers 
have the weight of argument with them. But the ad- 
vertising and the advertiser must be worthy to merit and 
win success. If we spend money with the hopes of 
drawing trade to our store, we must be prepared to 
spend time in consideration of what matter to put in the 
space for the temporary ownership of which we pay a 
good round price. Newspaper space is expensive 
enough for the small dealer, even if he make the best use 
of it. But if he uses that space to demonstrate that he 
knows nothing whatever about the proper wording of 
an ad., or that he is a weak grammarian, his money has 
been wasted. People form impressions, and it has been 
said that first impressions are the most lasting. Al- 
though many contend that they do not read advertising 
matter, the fact remains that those who have never met 
you will read your advertisements, and unconsciously 
form an opinion of you. Take care that this opinion be 
favorable. The advertisements of a man do not make 
the man, any more than a coat makes the man, but they 
somehow or other give one an impression regarding him. 
While not advocating the employment of an advertise- 
ment writer, yet under present conditions it is possible 
for a jeweler to connect himself with advertisement 
agencies who will furnish him, at comparatively small 
cost, carefully worded advertisements from which he can 
strike out words or sentences which are not acceptable 
to him, or describing goods which he does not handle. 
But under such circumstances, he has at hand ads. for 
any and all occasions. The addition of such expense to 
one's advertising expenses is not unnecessary outlay. 
Advertising space, improperly used, is expense. Prop- 
erly used, it is the same as merchandise. It cannot fail 
of returns. The writer has always held to newspaper 
advertising as the jeweler's best medium of publicity, 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 29 

and believes that when the retail jeweler has covered the 
field with space in the daily papers, any further outlay 
should be in the form of booklets, which can be mailed 
to a selected list of customers. Street car advertising- 
has its advocates, but most of them are found among the 
solicitors of the advertising managers, or among the 
manufacturers of commodities of various kinds which 
are on sale not only in the city where the reader sees 
them advertised, but in every city and township in the 
length and breadth of the land. Such articles, contin- 
ually brought to mind, will sometime be bought, and 
whether bought in Boston or Los Angeles, the manufac- 
turer receives his profit therefrom. Not so, however, 
with the retail advertiser in the street cars. The reader 
of the ad. must always bear his particular address in 
mind, and hie himself to his particular store, or he is 
not a gainer thereby. 

Bill board advertising is but temporary, and as the 
different shows are forgotten as soon as succeeding ones 
cover up the announcements, so the advertisements fol- 
low each other into oblivion. 

Of course, if one is not hampered by the necessity of 
close figuring regarding his advertising appropriation, 
except to allot so much to this, and so much to that, he 
can afford to experiment. But the small dealer, who has 
but a small sum which he can invest in that manner, 
must safeguard that expenditure to the greatest degree 
possible. It is the same way with that, as it is with the 
investment of money in industrial or other properties. 
The wealthy man can take a hundred shares in every- 
thing that comes along, and, in the natural course of 
events, he comes out winner, although he may hold many 
blanks. The man of moderate means cannot afford to 
make haphazard investments, because if one is a failure 
he is ruined. Still, we find men who cannot afford to 
waste money engaging space here and there, and never 
making a proper use of it. How much business would 
you do, if you had elegantly carved and decorated fix- 



30 



EVANS'S ESSA YS 



tures, with settees scattered here and there through a 
mammoth establishment, and without any goods. None 
of course. Neither will you do business through your 
advertising space unless you make that space represent 
you and your store, and if it is your representative, see 
that it is a creditable one. If a booklet is used to adver- 
tise your store, have a good one. The difference in cost 
between a booklet that is kept, and a booklet that is 
tossed in the waste basket, is small indeed. Do not be 
"penny wise and pound foolish." "Whatever is worth 
doing is worth doing well." 




EVANS'S ESS A YS. 31 



CHAPTER VII. 



ADVERTISING THE REPAIR DEPARTMENT 

To Much Cannot be Said about This Important Factor to the 
Business of the Retailer — Always do Good Work — In 
Advertising the Repair Department You are at the Same 
Time Advertising the Whole Business. 

TO a great many jewelers, the idea of advertising 
their repairing department seems, to say the least, 
ridiculous. "-Everybody knows that we repair 
watches and clocks," say these wise men. But is that 
fact absolutely true, and, if it is, does it necessarily fol- 
low that you will get your share of the repairing ? How 
often has the writer heard the inquiry made by strangers, 
and even by purchasers of goods, "Do you repair watches 
here?" The fact that so many stores where new goods 
are sold conduct no repair departments makes this ques- 
tion a reasonable one. Consider for a moment the shoe 
stores where repairing is declined; the clothing stores, 
with no provision for making repairs or alterations ; and 
even wall-paper sold to customers, and the matter of hav- 
ing it hung on their walls left to them to figure out and 
either find a paperhanger or do it themselves. 

So we find people with watches and clocks in search 
of a reliable place to have them restored to running order. 
This place once found, they will make it their business 
to recommend others to carry their work there. But 
how can we get these searchers for repairers to come 
our way? There is one way which is slow but sure, 
namely, to send each repair customer away entirely sat- 
isfied with the work done. The work, when done, must 
be well done. Price is not the object that some people 
believe in influencing work. Satisfactory work always 
brings satisfactory remuneration. By holding each cus- 



32 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 

tomer's trade and their influence, we will steadily gain 
ground, but if we wish to increase our repairing rapidly 
we must advertise. It is not necessary for us to wait 
until a man has carried his watch to several stores and 
then brings it to us as a last resort. By advertising 
properly we can bring him directly to our store with his 
work. The question naturally to be asked at this time 
is, "How to advertise the repair department?" Of 
course, the newspaper comes foremost as the medium in 
which to push our repair business. It is well, in these 
ads, to put interesting matter, which will demonstrate 
our familiarity with watches in general, as well as our 
ability to successfully repair infirm watches. We should 
advertise for the best work, as such work pays better and 
is not as difficult as the cheap work. If you advertise 
for first-class work only, you will have enough cheap 
work thrust at you. But if you advertise for cheap 
work, as "watches cleaned for 50 cents," you will get 
that class of trade and no other. The man with a fine 
watch will not trust it to a bungler, and, as such, he 
classifies the "cut-rate" man while the man with a low- 
priced watch may think it valuable enough to carry to 
the first-class repairer when it needs such attention. We 
can tell some information about watches, such as the 
improvements which have been made ; the number of 
parts of which a watch is composed; the number of 
times the balance of a watch beats in an hour, a week, 
month, and year. Call the reader's attention to the fact 
that this wonderful machine runs night and day alike, 
and that the amount of oil which can be put on a watch 
is very little indeed, and that after this oil dries there is 
a wear on the parts. Tell them not to wait until the 
watch stops from sheer exhaustion before giving it the 
needed attention, but to regularly once every year bring 
to to the watch-doctors for overhauling, as in this way 
the life of the watch will be greatly lengthened. Impress 
through these ads that while you want the job of clean- 
ing the watch, it as much or more to the interest of the 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 33 

customer to have it attended to in this way. Make 
people think. 

If we are prepared to handle fine hall clocks and 
French clocks, we can successfully make a bid for this 
work through the personal letter. The names of resi- 
dents of a city who are owners of fine clocks can gen- 
erally be found through the street directories by taking 
the streets on whi'ch the more wealthy residents live. 
A genuine personal letter to them, describing our store, 
and its ability to handle such work satisfactorily, with a 
return postal card with the jeweler's address printed 
thereon, and with an order to call for and repair a hall 
or French clock filled in on the back, requiring only the 
signature of the person addressed to complete the order, 
will generally, if there is need of such work, result in 
the landing of the job. In every house there are probably 
one or more clocks out of order which needs the jew- 
eler's attention, but which, from carelessness, are for- 
gotten from day to day. The personal letter, with the 
postal card enclosed, make easy the' giving of the order 
to call. This idea can be successfully carried out all 
through the city if the jeweler cares to extend his offer 
to call for clocks to the ordinary ones, as well as to the 
larger ones. 

Interesting window displays can be made, calling at- 
tention to our repair department, if we give a little time 
and study to it. Take a watch entirely to pieces and lay 
the pieces on white tissue paper, and with a card explain- 
ing that it is the several parts of a watch, and then see 
how many people will stop to see it. If you get hold of 
an old watch, out-of-date as to size and appearance, lay 
it in the window along with a modern watch. If you 
have a mainspring broken in an unusual manner, as, for 
instance, through every coil, put the parts in the win- 
dow. Anything unusual will attract. This time of year 
is a good time to push the repair department. We can 
lay stress upon the fact that if a person is going into the 
woods or country for a month's vacation, it is necessary 
to have a good timepiece with them, in order to be able 



34 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



to so plan their time that they will be able to be back to 
their hotels in time for meals. That, therefore it will 
pay them to have their watch overhauled before they go, 
rather than to suffer the inconvenience of having the 
watch stop when they are miles away from a reliable 
watchmaker. 

A fact we should not lose sight of is, that while we 
are advertising our repair departments, we are also ad- 
vertising our store and business, just as much as when 
we advertise a special watch we may have for sale. 
Keep the repair department to the front always. The 
largest jewelry stores find it pays to push this depart- 
ment and make a specialty of it. Let us follow their 
example. Let us have a first-class watch repairing de- 
partment, but also let us be sure that everybody knows 
about it. The good book tells us "not to light a candle 
and place it under a bushel," and we should follow its 
advice. Proclaim it, if necessary, from the housetops, 
that "this i's the place to have your watch repaired." 




EVANS'S ESS A YS. 35 



CHAPTER VIII. 



THE BUYING OF STOCK. 

Buy Goods to Sell at a Profit, not because the Salesman 
is a Good Fellow — Keep Tabs on Quotations — Buy 
"Leaders" but Don't Get Fooled into Paying Too Much 
for the Other Goods. 

WTEN we think of making money, we seem natu- 
rally to figure that we are going to make it 
from the sale at a profit of the goods bought. 
We seem to consider the buying of stock only one of the 
incidentals of business. So, we find our merchants fight- 
ing shy of the commercial traveler, and infoiming them 
as fast as they come that there is nothing they are in 
need of at that time, and generally ending by buying a 
bill of goods, grudgingly, after a great deal urging and 
the expenditure of "hot air" by the traveling salesman. 

There is altogether too much buying of goods because 
the traveler is "a good fellow." Most of them are that 
kind, or they would not be on the road. That fact alone 
is not sufficient to make it necessary to buy goods. We 
should always be ready to expend our time in looking 
over lines of goods, where the salesman is a gentleman 
and does not consider it a personal matter when you do 
not buy. By looking over different lines of goods we 
acquire information regarding goods and prices. What 
are the prevailing styles, and who carries the best lines 
of certain goods, and whose prices are most reasonable, 
are some of the important knowledge gained through 
contact with the traveling man. He is also a walking 
encyclopedia, and can give us all the latest trade gossip. 
All this is very interesting, and all right in its way, but 
we should never feel it necessary to buy anything which 
we do not want, or do not need, because of any fancied 
obligation to the traveler. 



36 EVANS'S ESSA VS. 

He comes to see us on business, and wishes us to buy 
from him because of the profit which will accrue to his 
house, and indirectly to himself. Therefore, as he calls 
upon us for business purposes only, why not meet him 
upon a business level, and if we are in need of goods, 
tell him so frankly, and save his time and your own, as 
you are perfectly safe in betting that he will not go away 
until he has shown you something, whether he sells you 
anything or not. Now, who is to blame for the condi- 
tion of things? The commercial traveler hears the 
same old story in the same old way, and if he believed it 
all and went his way, his annual sales would be exceed- 
ingly light. Would it not be better for all concerned 
if the merchant would adopt different tactics and tell 
the wholesaler what goods he would like to see, if any? 
Then, if occasionally he said he did not want to look at 
anything, his word would be accepted as given, and the 
traveler would journey along. 

This is perhaps a disgression from the subject of "The 
Buying of Stock." In some stores the buying of stock 
is entirely done by the proprietor, who may or may not 
be the one most and best fitted for that position. Let us, 
however, consider the advantages of having one man to 
do the buying of stock. He looks at all the several lines, 
and that being his business he can cultivate his mind to 
remember prices and distinguish styles and qualities. 
He is, perhaps, a little better able to make purchases 
at close figures than where several are interested in the 
buying. There is an advantage, however, in having two 
or three look over samples. Every one has a little differ- 
ent taste, and articles which would be turned down by 
the one-man buyer will meet with the approval of one of 
the joint committee on purchasing. Variety in stock is 
everything, providing that we do not go out of the reg- 
ular line too far. 

Perhaps, on articles like watches, diamonds, and ex- 
pensive goods generally, one man makes the best pur- 
chaser, while on the line of jewelry generally, rings, 
and so on, the idea of as many as possible should be 
consulted. On expensive articles, one man can buy, in 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 37 

an hour or so, as much as the entire force can sell in a 
year or more. Then, too, on diamonds and precious 
stones, one man, by giving it his undivided attention, 
can develop his eye so that he will become an expert re- 
garding stones and their values. 

In the general conduct of our business, we will, from 
time to time, be given quotations on different articles 
which we may not need at that time, and which may be 
leaders of that particular house, or the prices may be 
given because we have no apparent need of the goods. 

If we do not at that time wish to take advantage of 
the offer, we should adopt some method for keeping 
track of these quotations, which can be consulted easily 
and quickly. For those who are willing to earn a little 
extra money, with a small expenditure of labor, let me 
offer the suggestion that they conduct a small card index 
system for recording these quotations. A small one 
can be bought, the size to set on your desk or m a drawer, 
for $i to $1.50, and comes complete with cards and in- 
dexes, alphabetical and numerical. With this arrange- 
ment, it is an easy matter to write down a price given 
on clocks on a card, with the name and address of the 
firm giving it, and the date given, and drop it into the 
letter C. if we wish we can write another card, with the 
same information, and drop it in the letter of the firm 
giving it. 

It will surprise you sometimes to find out what you 
will save in this way. We cannot trust too much to 
memory but should assist our memory in handling the 
many details of the business. A quotation given, and 
not taken advantage of at the time given, may slip our 
mind when we come to buy these goods, and we give 
or send the order to another house, and pay them a 
higher price than we have any need of. 

We all know that some of our wholesale houses, fol- 
lowing the methods of the department store, sell ' Some 
goods at very near cost, and trust make it up on other 
goods. We should never form our judgment of the 
prices of any house by comparison of leaders. What we 



38 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

should do is to take advantage of the leaders, and should 
so know our business that we will not be led to order 
other goods at higher prices than we would pay else- 
where. 

Another reason for being up-to-date, and keeping 
records of the prevailing prices, and who is the lowest 
on them, is that we will be surer of getting bottom prices 
on our goods, because we will acquire the reputation of 
being right on the job regarding correct prices. 

Another important matter is the buying of goods so 
that several bills of large amounts do not come due at 
the same time or near together. We should keep a book 
or file, in which to enter latest dates when bills are due, 
and still subject to the cash discount. In this way we 
can know at any time just what money we have to pay 
out the coming week or month, and whether or' not we 
can conveniently handle any further bills. If we are 
careful in this way, we will be surer of staying in busi- 
ness, because it is the careless man, who buys with no 
thought of the settling time, who suddenly, almost with- 
out warning, receives statements calling for immediate 
settlement. When he meets with this condition of af 1 
fairs, if he cannot take care of these bills his other cred- 1 
itors will be after him, and where is he? If we are de- 
sirous of buying goods, and the bill at regular terms 
would foe due at the same time as another large bill, have 
it dated ten days ahead. Do not accept long dating, as 
that encourages carelessness. 

Be on your guard all the time. The surest way to 
keep friends with your creditors is to never owe them 
as much as they would like to have you. Be independ- 
ent. You can be so if you pay promptly. Do not let 
any house own you, or think that you have got to buy 
goods from them. Keep your bills paid up. Go slow, 
but go in the right direction and you will finally land at 
the top of the hill where the rest of the successful mer- 
chants are. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 39 



CHAPTER IX. 



TAKING CASH DISCOUNTS. 

Discounting Bills Give the Retailer a Better Reputation with 
the Jobber — It Many Times Saves a Firm From Finan- 
cial Disaster in the End. 

THIS subject has been written about many times, 
but I think its importance to the retail jeweler 
warrants it. To successfully conduct any busi- 
ness, be it great or small, we must take advantage of the 
cash discount. 

There are a great many reasons to advance, all of them 
good, for always taking the cash discount. If the goods 
are worth the prices quoted, and there is a discount of- 
fered for cash in ten days, is not that per cent, allowed 
for prompt payment, profit? And, is it not the only 
profit which we are sure of? Is the additional time 
given worth the price it costs? 

The man who takes the cash discount oh all bills, sel- 
dom, if ever, gets into financial difficulties, because, in 
order to meet occurring obligations as they come due, he 
must necessarily buy in smaller quantities than he who 
never takes a cash discount. Again, he lets his bills 
mature, and then gives notes, and many times renews 
them, and finally he runs up against the cold, hard fact 
that his business is not desired by any first-class house. 

The value of a name for prompt payment of bills can- 
not be overestimated. Although a good many of the 
traveling men try to give the impression that your money 
is not wanted, and that you can take your own time to 
pay for the goods, the reason, however, that they are call- 
ing upon you is because their house wants money, if not 
at that particular moment, at some later date, and they 
like to know when to count on receiving it. How much 



40 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

better it is to be set down as one who always pays in ten 
days, rather than as "good pay, but slow." 

The traveling man, by holding out this bait that you 
need be in no hurry to pay for goods, manages to sell 
you perhaps a larger bill than you ordinarily would have 
bought. If a dealer yields to the offers of several travel- 
ing men in this way he has bought all the goods he will 
need for the season, and perhaps longer. He has also, 
many times, tied his hands so that he cannot take advan- 
tage of special offers for cash or short time. Then, if 
the season is a little slow, and he has not enough money 
to meet his bills, now fully matured, he will find out 
whether the jobber will want his money or not. A good 
man, with no dishonest intentions, will then oftimes be 
forced to the wall through no fault of his own. 

The dealer who takes advantage of every cent of dis- 
count offered acquires a reputation for his shrewdness 
and foresight; and he will be sought out by those who 
are anxious to close out some line of goods, and are will- 
ing to' give a close buyer, who is prompt in payment,, 
some special advantage in price or discount. 

In these days of the telephone and telegraph the ex- 
press, and the splendid mail service, it is not necessary 
to buy stock far in advance, because we can easily fill in 
depleted stocks, in two or three days' time, excepting, of 
course, during the holiday rush. So, too, the number of 
traveling men who are out are legion, and they are all 
anxious to sell goods. We should be careful, therefore, 
not to buy more than we need. 

Sometimes the traveling man will say, "How many, 
a dozen?" and the dealer will say "yes," when perhaps 
a quarter dozen would be plenty. Never be ashamed to 
order a small quantity. Better do this, and re-order 
often, than to accumulate a lot of old stock. The whole- 
sale house will think more of you for going careful. 

If you acquire a reputation for prompt payment better 
houses will seek your patronage ; and as will naturally 
follow, either you will be quoted better prices, or will 
have a better selection of goods offered you. I believe 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 41 

it pays a dealer to look over stocks often, as the repre- 
sentative is always anxious to show. Many times it will 
be a decided 'advantage to the jeweler to do so. Either 
he will find that his goods were bought right, and it is 
worth something to know that, or he may find out that 
he has been paying too much for some kinds of goods. . 

Avoid the snare of the easy terms "four months net." 
Do not be always looking for dating on bills. Figure 
close on prices and discounts. Give the wholesaler to 
understand that it is straight goods and price, not time, 
that you want. "Time is money," so they say, but time 
is not worth the money it costs you. When you can bor- 
row money at 6 per cent, interest per year, why should 
you lose 6 per cent, discount for the mere satisfaction o>f 
taking 60 days, 90 days, of four months net? 

Concentrate your business. Do business with as few 
as is positively necessary. If you owe $5,000 to five dif- 
ferent concerns, you can make payments to each of them 
easily. But, if you owe the same amount divided among 
fifty concerns, you do not always know whom to pay first. 
This, of course, only applies where the dealer does not 
buy in small quantities and takes the cash discount off of 
everything. 

The reason so few jewelers take the cash discount is 
because they are ambitious and try to carry as big a stock 
of everything as their neighbor, who, perhaps, has more 
money. 

Better go slow, pay as we go, and in time; the saving 
on the discount will enable us to have better fixtures or 
better stock. 

A good many stores pay their rent, heating, advertis- 
ing, and lighting from their cash discounts. It is not 
worth your while to join the ranks of those who always 
take the cash discounts, if you are not already one of 
them? 



42 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 



CHAPTER X. 



SHOW WINDOWS AND THEIR USES. 

Enormous Gains Made in this Manner from Transient Cus- 
tomers — The Middle Class are all the Show Window 
Lookers, and the Middle Class Pay Cash — Specialty 
Windows Make a Good Impression. 

FROM time immemorial, business men have, to a 
greater or less extent, recognized the possibilities 
of benefit to be derived from the proper display 

of goods in their show windows. It is perhaps super- 
fluous to mention the wonderful developments which 
have occurred along this line. The metropolitan stores, 
and their followers in the inland cities,, demonstrate that 
there is a strong current generated by proper window dis- 
plays. The grocery and fruit stores find that sales are 
stimulated by having their goods pushed well out on the 
sidewalk, where the passing public will fall over them. 
This belief is well founded, as were they to keep their 
goods inside the store boundaries, it would be a com- 
paratively easy matter to walk by their establishments 
without noticing their existence, unless one had a specific 
errand there. The dollars picked up from transients be- 
cause of having the goods where they cannot help but see 
them is enormous. 

There are many reasons why it is necessary for a store 
to keep attractively arranged shop-windows. One of 
them is that to enter a store, particularly a specialty store, 
such as a jewelry store, means, to a large class of people, 
that they must have a purchase in mind. Indeed, the 
clerks in small stores seem to be trained to think likewise. 
People therefore are delicate about entering a store of 
this character merely to gaze and admire, with no idea 1 
of an immediate purchase. To such people the show- 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 43 



window is a welcome adjunct to the several stores in 
which they are interested. To stop and look in a window 
implies nothing more than curiosity and obligates the 
gazer to nothing, nor is her departure made difficult. 
Thousands pass your store daily who perhaps will never 
enter unless you can exert some influence or advance 
some reason for their doing so. Many jewelers feel very 
dignified regarding their stores and their methods of do- 
ing business. This is all very well for those who have 
passed the anxious stage and have wealth accumulated 
to back up their dignity. Most jewelers, however, are 
not overburdened with wealth, and should not be with 
dignity. It is not necessary to adopt any cheap methods 
for attracting notice to our stores. There is a happy 
medium between an excessive dignity and cheap clap trap 
methods. In developing a business we do not want to 
appeal to those who want something for nothing but we 
do want to appeal to those who want good reliable goods, 
and who are willing to pay a fair price for them. There- 
are enough of such people to make it worth while to make 
efforts through our windows to bring them in. 

A dignified manner tends to drive away the middle 
class trade, and calls in a class who consider themselves 
the upper crust, and whose purchases are mainly on 
credit payable six months or so later. No average store 
can exist on such trade, unless enormous profits are 
added, and it is not unusual for the upper class to wish to 
pay more for their goods than others. The middle class 
of customers, who may also be called the show window 
lookers, buy moderate priced goods, and pay for them. 
To this class then we must cater. It is not advisable to 
display cheap goods in our windows, as this condemns the 
store to people with discerning eyes and good judgment, 
which has been developed by ownership and purchase of 
reliable goods. Many stores feel that they must offer cut 
prices on goods which they display, or otherwise it is a 
mistake to mark goods plainly. Nothing could be far- 
ther from the truth in this respect. Every one who stops 
and looks into a window is not looking for something 
cheap. The average customer buys medium priced 



44 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



goods. He does not want 18k. gold, nor does he want 
plated or cheap gold filled. iHe either wishes iok. or 14k. 
gold jewelry or the best gold filled of that article. Take, 
for instance, the one article of bracelets. A young man 
in search of a present for a young lady may not care to 
invest twenty-five to fifty dollars in one. Neither will he 
care to purchase one for a dollar or two. Something in 
good gold filled, costing from five to six dollars, or in 
solid gold, costing from ten to fifteen dollars, will be most 
apt to appeal to him. 

In planning our fall window displays, we must first 
make arrangements as to our window fixtures and inte- 
rior decorations. Many find it to be an excellent idea to 
have different colored window bottom coverings and cur- 
tains which match, and which permits of changes being 
made in the appearance of the window, and gives every- 
thing in it a new and fresh appearance. Window fix- 
tures may be as elaborate or as inexpensive as one 
chooses. One may purchase these from dealers, or can 
plan and originate one's own, and making them oneself 
will make their expense practically nothing. Squares of 
different heights and sizes ; triangles and rectangles and 
steps can be easily made and covered with velvet and 
will be ready for use on different occasions. The use of 
such arrangements permits of setting some special article 
or articles in prominent positions in the window, and 
bringing them especially before the public. Take, for in- 
stance, a handsome tea set or service of any kind. If set 
flat on the bottom of the window among other goods, it 
may become only a part of a conglomerate mass. If, 
however, they are set on a pedestal or other elevation, it 
becomes a separate and distinct part of the displav. 
Some window displays show up best on the level, while 
other articles demand that there be a slant to show their 
beauties to advantage. As has been said in reference to 
the curtains and window coverings, so also it can be said 
of these different shaped fixtures ; they give a different 
look to a show window even if the same articles are used, 
while in addition, the use of such fixtures will offer sug- 
gestions as to the display of articles which we would or- 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 45 

dinarily leave out of the window. If one were to have 
the window bottom perfectly level, with no elevations of 
any kind, many articles would have to be left out of the 
window, because they would not harmonize with the rest 
of the goods ordinarily placed in a show window. 

Jewelers generally are more zealous in their efforts in 
the direction of show window decoration and arrange- 
ment than ever before. Changes should be made with 
regularity, so that regular attendants will not become 
wearied with seeing the same display week in and week 
out. By making frequent changes one prevents any one 
lot of articles from becoming so decidedly shop-worn as 
to make their sale well nigh impossible, to say nothing of 
the lost sales from having such goods in such a prominent 
place as the show window. If you have any goods which 
are specially new and desirable it is good business policyj 
at once to show them in the window. Many have an idea 
that they can sell anything, and that it is advisable to 
push old timers on such of their customers as they think 
they can. There is an old saying to the effect, "Put your 
best foot foremost," and applied to the jewelry business 
if that doesn't mean, "Keep your show windows in first- 
class order," then its meaning is not clear to me. 

A specialty window will make a greater impression 
than a general window, because it cannot be passed with- 
out notice. Let us, for example, consider the effects of 
a window full of watches. One cannot go by without 
recognizing the completeness of the line carried, whether 
he is in the market for a timepiece or not; while the 
man who is contemplating the purchase o-f a watch 
is more apt to find displayed the very watch which he 
has in mind, than as if there was a promiscuous dis- 
play of watches, rings, cuff buttons, chains, etc. Then, 
if such a display is followed later by a display of all the 
rings in the establishment, and later ones with cuff but- 
tons, scarf pins, and other card jewelry, one will discover 
that your store carries an almost inexhaustible supply of 
the various goods sold in a jewelry store. One must use 
the general displays oftener than a special one, because 
of the pretty arrangement which is the result, and which 



46 EVAN S' S ESSAYS 



a specialty window does not so often produce. Another 
thing to feature is the new lines which you may have 
added during the year. Take any line of goods which 
may be as attractive as art and skill can make them. If! 
you place them carefully in the rear case you will very 
likely find them there after Christmas, little changed in 
appearance, save as to tarnish and dust which may have 
accumulated. Such goods should be kept well forward. 
If not in the show window they should occupy a promi- 
nent place in the store. One cannot with justice con- 
demn goods as unsaleable which are not staples and which 
he has carefully hidden away. 

As the holidays approach we should change, if neces- 
sary, the goods in our show cases, so that the novelties 
and Christmas articles will be in the cases nearest the 
door. Staples, such as table ware of various kinds can 
be placed further from the door, as such articles, if de- 
sired, are asked for by the customers. In dressing a 
show window, one should have a fairly well developed 
idea of how he is going to place the goods, and what the 
general result will be before beginning to arrange the 
goods. Jewelers often begrudge the time necessarily 
spent in producing a beautiful display. If they succeed 
in originating an elegant display, they often leave the 
goods in the window until the display has long outlived its 
usefulness. This is misdirected energy in making such a 
display and then leaving it so long before the public. Bet- 
ter to have placed a few goods in the window arranged 
simply, and then changed in two or three days. 

Every man knows his own business best ; he knows the 
size of his show-window and how he is located ; he knows 
what kind of displays will prove most attractive in his 
section. There is, however, one safe rule to follow re- 
garding show-windows, and that is, to keep them scru- 
pulously neat and clean. Do not be afraid of overdoing 
the matter of cleaning up. There is nothing which at- 
tracts more than a jeweler's window which is clean and 
filled with fresh bright goods, and one is encouraged to 
enter and look, even although a purchase is not contem- 



EVANS'S ESS AYS . 47 

plated at that time. It is also true that nothing will do 
more to keep people out of a store than an untidy looking 
window, filled with dirty jewelry, mounted on dusty, fin- 
ger-marked cards. The writer has been interested when 
visiting other cities, to notice the jewelry stores, and many 
stores would present such a neglected appearance in their 
show windows, that one would involuntarily come to the 
conclusion that he "who enters here leaves hope behind." 
To the observer from the outside it would not seem pos- 
sible that any valuable knowledge of methods of con- 
ducting a business could be learned in such a place. If 
jewelers would receive such an impression, so others out- 
side of the business would gain the same idea of the busi- 
ness ability of the proprietor, and the desirability of do- 
ing business there. 




48 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER XL 



CARDS FOR THE STORE AND WINDOW. 

Some Practical Suggestions for the Making and the Use of 
a Cheap but Effective Form of Advertising— Be Careful 
Not to Make Statements You are Unwilling to Abide 
By. 

TH1ERE is a way that we can advertise our store and 
outline our policy, which costs but a nominal 
amount. Reference is here made to the custom of 
having printed or written cards of small size, which we 
can place in the windows, describing the goods, making 
appropriate comments on prevailing styles, and inform- 
ing our customers and strangers regarding our methods 
of doing business. The cards which we will use inside 
may be larger, but should be of the same general char- 
acter. 

Few of us can realize the power of suggestion, or the 
amount of information some people will gather during a 
visit to our store, or even from looking in the window. 
A handsome window display might attract lookers, but if 
coupled with it is the encouraging invitation to "Come in, 
and look, whether you wish to buy or not," we will find a 
large number will accept the invitation so offered and will 
call in, and while at the time it may seem like so much 
time wasted, it is not, for before we can have buyers we 
must have shoppers. All shoppers are not purchasers, 
but they are talkers, and can spread the news around as 
to what is particularly new and proper in jewelry. If 
the people are with you, and feel favorably toward you, 
your name will become a household word for being the 
most wide-awake, if not the leading jewelry store of 
the town. This reputation is what we are all striving 
for, and which, if once attained, the prestige of such 
position will enable us to obtain and hold trade that is 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 49 

desirable but which goes with the crowd — in fact, the 
people who wish to have, their jewelry purchases come 
from the popular jewelry store. 

Whatever you say on these cards, mean it, and do 
not make any offer that you are not willing to make good. 
In an optical paper there is the story of a woman who 
asked the optician to examine her eyes and tell her what 
glasses she needed, so that she could go to the ten cent 
store and get them. Upon his refusal to comply with her 
request, she indignantly pointed out to him his sign, 
"Eyes Examined Eree." 

Rightly worded signs often save a great deal of con- 
versation. Take, for instance, either of the signs, 
"Positively No Credit," or "Repair Work, Cash" hung 
up in the store, and which a great many will read, and 
take the matter for granted without asking for partic- 
ulars, but if the jeweler is asked for credit, the mere fact 
that he has such a sign displayed makes it a comparatively 
easy matter to point to it, and inform the inquirer that it 
is the custom of the store to sell for cash only, or to de- 
liver repairs only when the full amount of the charges 
is paid. 

While not advocating the filling up of the walls with 
signs, the writer believes that the "signs of the times" 
are deserving of all the space which we can give them. 
Another sign I would suggest is "Not responsible for 
work left over thirty days." While the laws do not pro- 
tect the jeweler regarding the selling of repair work for 
the charges, still the majority of people are not cognizant 
of this fact, and these we can hustle up a little about 
calling for their work. 

A few samples of what these cards may consist may 
not be amiss : 

"W'e study to please." 

"Your satisfaction is our satisfaction." 

"No trouble to show goods." 

"We talk but little. Our pleased customers are doing 
the talking for us." 

"A satisfied customer is our best advertisement." 



5o EVANS'S ESSA YS 



"To sell you once is to sell you always." 

"If we please you tell others ; if not tell us." 

"We would rather not make the first sale, if we cannot 
hold your trade and influence thereafter." 

"Watch us for watches." 

"The rings here shown are merely a sample line. We 
would like the privilege of showing your our complete 
line." 

"We guarantee our rings to ;be of the quality stamped." 

"We lead, others must follow." 

"Det us help you to decide what to give for that wed- 
ding present. We are at your service." 

"Wedding presents. Any article selected from our 
superb stock of sterling silver, cut glass or clocks, will 
make a pleasing and satisfactory wedding present." 

"Cash prices, not catch prices." 

"Not how cheap, but how good." 

How are we going to prepare all these various signs? 
Well, if we wish, we can buy one of the rubber stamp 
sign outfits which are so complete in every detail that 
with any degree of care the least skillful of us can turn 
out a creditable sign in the space of ten minutes at the 
outside. For those who dislike bother of this kind, our 
friend, the professional sign-writer, will be found ready 
and willing to help us at moderate prices. Our small 
cards in the window we will have written or printed by 
the best pen artist in our employ. The cards of various 
kinds, which cost but a little time, cardboard and ink, 
should be changed often. If you hit upon some catch 
phrase, and find the public take to it, have one large sign 
in the store with that wording. Occasionally, signs re- 
minding people of the regular work we do should be 
placed in the window, such as "Fine Watch Repairing," 
"Jewelry of every description made and repaired." Care 
should be taken to say nothing that will offend. Make 
your "silent salesman" to be helpers of the business. 
Do not try to be funny when you write these cards. Be 
natural, be enthusiastic, be cheerful, be businesslike. Say 
just what you mean and mean just what you say, and you 
will find that these cards do a great deal of work for you. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 51 



CHAPTER XII. 



THE DISPOSING OF OLD STOCK. 

Reasons for its Accumulation — How Best to Get Rid of it 
at the Least Loss to the Dealer — Considered from Dif- 
ferent Standpoints. 

WHILE many contend that in the jewelry business 
there is no such thing as "old stock," still 
some of the trade feel that they have the evi- 
dence to support their claims that there is such stock, and 
that an extra effort of some kind is necessary, to dispose 
of it. In defense of the position that there is no "old 
stock," the argument is advanced that certainly the man 
who made the article liked its design, and surely some 
one else will come along who will think the same. 

From whatever standpoint we view the matter, whether 
as wholesaler or retailer, we must admit that this sub- 
ject is of vital interest and importance to all. 

Before considering the subject, let us look into some 
of the ways and means to use in order to avoid, as far as 
possible, the accumulation of old stock. Why do we col- 
lect a lot of old stock? It is not generally because we 
buy more generously than we ought? If an article is 
new on the market, or the demand for it has to be pro- 
duced, we should go careful in our buying, unless it is 
a commodity, the sale of which we can have control, 
in which case it often pays to take hold and advertise it 
and push it in every way possible, as any sales resulting 
therefrom will redound to our credit. But as these 
cases are few indeed, we will dimiss" them from further 
consideration. We should buy in as small a quantity of 
a new article as will enable us to make a respectable 
showing. And, having received them, do not place 
them carefully away in the show cases and wait for cus- 



52 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

tomers to come in and call for them. We might have to 
wait too long. There are people who always like to be 
up-to-date, and will buy whatever is the proper thing at 
that particular minute for that very reason. If we 
promptly place these goods in our window and advertise 
the fact that new goods have arrived, and mention what 
is new, and that they are in our window, perhaps w£ 
will not have so many of them left when the fad created 
for them is over. 

I think the experience of most jewelers is that the 
novelties are the "stickers." As I said in one of my pre- 
vious articles, there is a certain price we should be will- 
ing to pay for being up-to-date, and we therefore should 
not kick at a few left-overs in novelties. We should con- 
sider what the value of our old stock is before we adopt 
means for disposing of it. Sometimes it would be 
cheaper to pack the stuff up or give it away, instead of 
trying to get rid of it, even at a reduced rice. There 
are certain ways of disposing of old stock, and we will 
now consider them. 

The package sale is familiar to most of us, but a brief 
statement of the method of conducting one will not be 
amiss. Articles of different values, styles, sizes, etc., 
are tied up into packages, and are offered at a low price. 
The purchaser buys without knowledge of the contents 
of the package, and may receive an article be can use, 
or one he can not. While some recommend this method 
highly, I do not think the after effects are good. The 
jeweler has lost money on the sale, but he has cleaned 
out a lot of undesirable stuff, and has many times made 
a lot of dissatisfied customers. While some purchasers 
are gamblers enough to enter into the spirit of it and 
be satisfied whether they are fortunate or not in their 
selection, the majority of people buy at a sale like this 
because they expect to receive big returns, and they are 
often disappointed and dissatisfied accordingly. If we 
are not in too great a hurry to dispose of it, we can sell 
quite a lot of it in the ordinary methods of business. 
If we show these goods with our other goods, some will 
prefer them. In any case, we should use the method 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 53 

which will have the least injurious after effect. Some 
believe in holding an auction sale. Experience is a 
good teacher, and we all have to find out some things for 
ourselves. An auction sale is all right if properly con- 
ducted, but it is distressing, to say the least, to see ex- 
pensive goods going at ruinously low prices. How is the 
jeweler coming out? The auctioneer will generally 
suggest that he sell a few of his own goods and on these 
a profit will be made. The jeweler acquiesces, and finds 
that these goods sell easily at big profits, which are 
divided. And so the sales goes on, with a sale from the 
jeweler's stock, often at a loss, and a sale of a plated 
watch from the auctioneer's stock, at a profit When 
the sale is over, who stays behind to make good the de- 
fects in the wearing qualities of the goods which have 
been sold? 

I think a good way to do, is to offer an article which 
we are anxious to sell at a reduced price to a customer 
who is looking for a present, either of that kind of an 
article, or who is undecided. Explain to him why we 
are willing to sell it lower than the usual price. Teill 
him truthfully that we have had it in stock some time, 
and while its value has not depreciated because we are 
tired of seeing it, yet we are willing to sacrifice on it. 
In nine chances out of ten the sale will be made and the 
customer will be satisfied. It is policy to tell him that 
he can exchange it if he wishes to. A satisfied cus- 
tomer is what we want. 

A good way to avoid having "old stock" is to keep the 
goods clean and mounted on clean cards, with clean tags 
attached. When we buy in new goods, before putting 
them in stock clean up all the similar goods. Then 
they will all appear fresh and new. Cards, tags and 
elbow grease are inexpensive, but yet how necessary! 
Always remember that if we keep everlastingly at it. 
success will be ours. 



54 EVANS'S ESSA YS 



CHAPTER XIII. 



THE OPTICAL SIDE OF A RETAIL STORE. 

The Advantages of Fostering the Optical Business — More 
Profitable than the Jewelry End and Also a Feeder 
Thereto— Moral, It is Wise to Study Optics. 

WE often hear and read discussions regarding the 
advisability of a retail jeweler carrying this 
side line or that. Some say, be a specialist and 
stick to one business only. Others advise having several 
departments because one is able then to sell to the same 
customers goods over and over again in the different 
lines whereas if jewelry alone is carried the sales of 
necessity are limited. So we find trade papers advocat- 
ing stationery departments, camera departments, musi- 
cal and art goods, statuary, china, bric-a-"brac, cut glass, 
lamps, etc. There is of course a reason for this. Many 
articles of every day or occasional use, which every one 
buys once in a while, are not of such material or designs 
that they properly belong in any particular store. So all 
of us have calls for goods every day which we do not 
carry in stock, and we tell the inquirer so, and straight- 
way forget about it. There are many of these depart- 
ments which one might add profitably, if the necessary 
space is contained within his storeroom. 

There is one department which naturally goes with the 
retail jewelry business, and which the average customer 
expects to find associated with it. That is the optical de- 
partment. Years ago the jeweler carried, in connection 
with his jewelry stock, a few solid gold frames, and a 
line of cheaper glasses, all ready fitted up, which were 
passed out to the customers for them to decide which pair 
best suited them. This was all right until people began 
to demand better methods of examinations and better re- 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 55 

suits from wearing glasses. Then the scientific optician 
entered the field, and the jeweler-optician's business 
dwindled. It is because of this fact that so many jew- 
elers have never felt encouraged to push this department,- 
but many have realized its possibilities and have reaped 
their profits thereby. To me it is the ideal line to work 
in with jewelry, for several reasons, lit takes up but lit- 
tle room even where a dark room is used in connection 
with it. Every one, old or young, whatever their desires 
or inclinations, must sooner or later adopt the custom of 
wearing glasses, and if their jeweler is prepared to min- 
ister to their wants, it is but natural that they should visit 
him, because of their acquaintance and confidence, rather 
than make a trip to an optician with whom they are not 
acquainted. 

While many people are still of the opinion that a cheap 
pair of glasses will do them, others who are of the ma- 
jority, are beginning to recognize the fact that eyesight 
is precious, and once lost can never be recovered. All 
this makes it better for the exclusive optician or jeweler- 
optician. Good prices are obtainable for good work', and 
many jewelers have found it more profitable to push this 
branch of their business, and make the jewelry depart- 
ment the side line. And it is not altogether a question of 
whether or not one is satisfied with his jewelry business 
and is willing that others may handle the optical de- 
mands. If one of our customers in search of eye helps 
goes to an exclusive optician, you have merely lost the 
profit on that particular sale. But supposing that they 
visit a brother jeweler who, in connection with his jew- 
elry business, also has means and methods for examining 
the eyes and making necessary corrections. The jeweler 
so visited probably is as good a fellow as you are, and by 
the acquaintance so made may hold the trade of that cus- 
tomer for future jewelry purchases. In making an ex- 
amination of the eyes, in entering the results on the rec- 
ord book, together with the name of the patient, in fitting 
frames, and adjusting them afterwards, the optician is 



56 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

given an opportunity for making a favorable or an un- 
favorable impression. If the former, he must necessarily 
profit on future sales. One's manner in granting a re- 
quest clearly denotes whether it is an act of willingness 
or of necessity. Be courteous always. It "costs little, 
does much." 

Instances where customers have been lost through 
one's inability to serve them, in one or more of the jew- 
eler's side lines, might be given. If for no other reason 
than that of holding your own trade, it is a good thing 
to handle optical goods. It is not necessary to advertise 
this department. It will take care of itself. Your cus- 
tomers will notice your new department, or at least it is 
new to them, because they have just become aware of the 
fact that their eyes need attention, and they will come in 
and say, "You test the eyes, do you not?" and if you do, 
business will result. If, because of your inability to serve 
them, you send them to other jewelers who can, and you 
lose your profits on subsequent sales, where do you come 
in? Your fellow craftsmen will not divide profits with 
you. The optical business fits into a jewelry store more 
easily than any other line. Then, too, the time necessary 
to acquire a rudimentary knowledge of means and meth- 
ods is not long. Of course such knowledge is merely 
theoretical, but while that is valuable it is easy to obtain 
that practical experience which quadruples the value of 
our theoretical knowledge. 

Then, again, an optical department is valuable aside 
from its immediate profits. It makes one think, and de- 
velops our abilities along that line, and also develops 
one's judgment, and teaches him to rely upon himself. 
In every case of eye fitting there exists a necessity for 
exercising one's judgment. We are all liable to allow 
our thinking powers to relax almost beyond recall, unless 
the necessity exists for utilizing our thinking parts. 

What difference does it make to you whether you make 
a couple of dollars by selling a watch on which you make 
a small per cent., compared with the same profit on a pair 



EVANS'S ESSAYS . 



57 



of glasses. In selling a watch, you get nothing for your 
knowledge of goods and qualities, but in selling glasses 
you are paid an additional price for the knowledge of 
what to prescribe. 

The jewelers who have handled optical goods and 
fitted eyes scientifically, need no advice as to the profita- 
bleness of the same. They have the experience. But 
when you consider the small amount necessary to invest 
to carry a stock of optical goods, and the returns possible, 
it seems strange that more jewelers have not taken ad- 
vantage of it. 



58 EVANS'S ESS A YS 



CHAPTER XIV. 



SAFE GUARDING OF VALUABLES. 

In Showing Costly Goods Tradesmen or Clerks Should be 
Alert at all Time — Practical Suggestions — Honest People 
Will Not Take Offense at Precautions Against Thieving. 

I^HE jewelry business, like all other kinds of busi- 
ness, has both its advantages and disadvantages. 
Some of its advantages have been spoken of in 
previous chapters. Chief among the things that may be 
considered a disadvantage is the variety and extent of 
the competition existing. Almost every department 
store, gent's furnishing store and variety stores of dif- 
ferent sorts have more or less jewelry for sale. There 
is, however, a far greater peril in loss in conducting 
a jewelry business, than the danger of losing sales 
to competitors. It is the danger of losing through 
theft an amount that oftentimes exceeds the profits of a 
year's business. The jeweler is a mark, as it were, for 
sneak thieves and slight of hand men. There is no 
temptation to a thief to steal a suit of clothes, or a pair 
of shoes, because of the difficulty of concealing them 
during a flight. But the thief who takes two or three 
diamond rings, or even a tray of them, who rushes from 
the store and mixes with the crowd, is generally soon 
lost to view. 

Jewelers are inclined to be careless. Despite the 
warnings of the newspapers, the Jewelers' Security 
Alliance, and of other prominent sources, we still find it 
to be the practice of many firms to leave one clerk alone 
in the store, and often that one is inexperienced. We all 
learn by experience, and the ones most habituated to 
handling trade are usually less apt to prove easy victims 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 59 

to the workings of some game than the inexperienced. 
The old proverb, "Believe every man innocent until he 
is proven guilty," would never do as a motto by which 
to run a jewelry store. Unless we are personally ac- 
quainted with a customer, we should exercise the great- 
est care in showing goods. Opportunity often makes 
the thief. Very few would steal if they thought they 
would be caught at it, or caught with the goods. It is 
a good idea to carefully size up a customer before you 
begin to show the goods. It is an easy matter to do this 
by asking a few questions relative to the class of goods 
which the customer wishes to see. You then have a fair 
idea of the appearance of the customer, if it should later 
prove necessary to describe him. After you once pro- 
duce the goods, your attention should be on them and 
not on the customer. The fact that the customer is look- 
ing at the goods makes it a fallacy to try and look the 
customer in the eye while you are talking to him. Your 
inspiration comes from the goods. You must look at 
them yourself, to be able to discourse upon their beauty, 
their finish, and their desirability. This is the time that 
the hands of your customer need watching more than 
does his face. All a crook needs is a fraction of a sec- 
ond to substitute an inferior stone for a diamond, or to 
slide an expensive brooch into the palm of his hand. He 
can afford to look at you if you will look at him, and 
take your eyes from the goods. When diamonds are 
being shown, it is a good idea for any clerk who is dis- 
engaged to stand near at hand. He may see something 
which might miss the eye of the salesman who is wait- 
ing on the customer. Then again, if another clerk is 
nigh, it will do away with the possibility of a successful 
outcome from throwing pepper into the eyes of the 
salesman showing the goods. Most tricks are worked 
when few are present, but instances could be related of 
thefts made with a dozen clerks near at hand. Thieves 
as a rule would rather do business with one person. An 
instance happened in a store recently where a young 



6o EVANS'S -ESSAYS. 



man entered a store, apparently in charge of but one 
clerk, and asked to be shown diamond rings. As soon 
as he said diamond rings, another clerk moved out of 
the private office and stationed himself further up the 
store near the door. The young man never picked up a 
ring or asked the price. He said he would call again, 
and as he left the store he signaled up the street, and the 
clerk stepping to the door, saw his partner come down 
the street and join him further along. So many times 
we have all read the different methods of safeguarding 
our goods, that it seems almost unnecessary to further 
particularize, but a few rules safe to follow are here 
given. 

Keep expensive goods -in the safe, and especially 
where they are in trays. Show such goods back in the 
store, rather than near the door. Never leave such 
goods on the showcase while you turn for others, or 
while you reach in the showcase. It is a simple matter 
when asked to show something different to lift the goods 
from the showcase, and this should not give offence to 
any honest person. Never attempt to wait upon more 
than one customer, or one set of customers at the same 
time. Some people who are not in league with a dis- 
honest person, will often unwittingly act as assistant to 
them. A clerk is busy waiting upon a customer, show- 
ing diamond rings, when Mr. Jones enters and asks for 
his watch which is being repaired. He is in a hurry, 
and the clerk to oblige him, leaves his tray of diamonds 
with the unknown customer while he finds Mr. Jones' 
watch. Mr. Jones gets his watch; the thief substitutes 
a ring, and, pushing the tray to the clerk, says he will 
call again, or perhaps in the excitement he departs with 
the entire contents of the tray. All this would not have 
happened had the clerk told Mr. Jones to wait until he 
was through, or until another clerk arrived. Mr. Jones 
might have felt a little vexed about the delay, but he 
would recover from that. A book might be printed re- 
citing instances where jewelers have been victimized. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 61 

Always be ready to call another clerk into assistance 
when people ask to be shown goods which will necessi- 
tate a trip to another part of the store. A workman or 
a boy can hand you those goods, which does away with 
the necessity of your leaving goods on the show case with 
the customer. 

It is a good idea to have mirrors about the store so 
that when it is necessary to turn around for something 
you still can keep the customer in view. Mirrors should 
be on all the benches or in front of them, so that a watch- 
maker, even though he does not wait on trade, may yet 
have his eye on the business. Never make change for 
a stranger unless he buys something, and when you do 
make change for a customer do not alter it. It has cost 
some business men from five to twenty dollars to take 
back a bunch of change which looks like the change they 
have just given, and give back the original bill to the 
customer, who has meanwhile abstracted several bills 
from the bottom. 

Because of the immense value contained in little space, 
the jeweler's stock presents itself as a shining mark for 
the dishonest person; and, as many believe, because of 
the expensive goods which he sells, that the jeweler is 
comparatively wealthy, they steal from him without even 
a twinge of conscience. It is easier to keep your goods 
in the safe and away from such people, than it is to re- 
cover them when once lost. 



62 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER XV. 



HOW THE SOUVENIR CRAZE HELPS TRADE. 

Still Good Business in Souvenir Spoons — Medium Price Ar- 
ticles Will Please the Most and Show Greatest Profits 
— Souvenirs Make Good Presents. 

EVERY year we are in business emphasizes the 
fact that there is a demand for souvenir goods, 
and that the average seeker after a souvenir of 
any calibre looks to the jeweler to furnish the same. 
There are unquestionably countless numbers of cheap 
souvenirs sold by the fancy goods and dry goods stores. 
With these, however, we do not try to or wish to com- 
pete. The visitor to our city, wishing to take home a 
memento of the visit to wife, mother, sister or sweetheart, 
does not visit the 5 and 10 cent store to try and find what 
he is looking for. He begins the rounds of the jewelry 
stores, and the one best prepared to meet his require- 
ments is the gainer thereby. 

How many jewelry stores are prepared to satisfy this 
demand even with a single souvenir of their own town? 
One trouble with the jewelry trade is, that they expect 
to move novelties and side lines with greater rapidity 
than they even dare hope to do with regular goods. It 
is perhaps for this reason that the trade generally have 
let souvenir goods alone. But when you stop to con- 
sider the small amount of capital really necessary to en- 
able one to carry a comparatively complete line of these 
goods, it is surprising that more stores have not taken 
hold of them. 

In every town there are public buildings, monuments, 
or historical places which make good subjects for souve- 
nirs. The Town Hall, Court House, Armory, Hospital, 
High School, College or Fraternity building's, all make 
good material for souvenir goods. These may take the 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 63 

form of tea or coffee spoons, bonbon spoons, paper 
weights, pin trays and so on with the building either en- 
graved or photographed thereon. 

If we try to handle souvenirs at all, we want to keep a 
good selection of subjects on hand so that we can sell to 
the same people over and over again, which we cannot 
do if we have only one kind of a souvenir. 

Our presidents, especially Washington and the mar- 
tyred ones, are first-class material for souvenir subjects. 
By having these goods in stock in variety, we can start 
some people collecting these goods. Of course some 
may say that souvenir spoons have had their day, be- 
cause there was such a fad for them about ten or twelve 
years ago. But at that time every store was pushing 
for the business. Now there are so many who are will- 
ing to believe that this trade is beyond resuscitation, and 
are perfectly willing to concede it to others, that it will 
pay some jeweler in every town, more enterprising than 
the rest, to prepare himself to fill the demand for these 
goods. It is a good idea to try and have your store 
noted for some one thing, and have it spoken of as the 
headquarters for such and such lines of goods. In every 
large city we see several stores lauded in their advertise- 
ments as "the Leading Jewelers," or as "Diamond Jew- 
elers," or as the "Watch Store." Any of us can claim 
these distinctions, which in reality are not such, as we 
all carry diamonds and watches, but a jeweler in shape 
to provide the public with souvenir goods, can, with per- 
fect propriety, commend himself to the trade, as the 
"Souvenir Store." This trade may not seem worth going 
after, but it is worth trying. One might, when we con- 
sider the number of watches which have been sold, just 
as well give up the sale of watches, on the theory that 
every one who wants a watch has one. 

We have all heard of the folly of straining at gnats 
and swallowing camels. It i-s a good deal that way with 
all of us in the matter of the stock we carry. We buy in 
lots of the more expensive goods, and then, as a matter 



64 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 

of economy, let our stock in some of the lower priced 
goods run down. The place to economize is in large 
things. The more of medium class goods we handle, 
the more customers we are prepared to serve, and the 
more calls we will have for more expensive goods, 
which, if we have not in stock, we can quickly get. 

In returning to the contemplation of the souvenir bus- 
iness I will say that it will certainly surprise you, and it 
will be a pleasant surprise, to find on how many occa- 
sions that you will find that your self-suggestion of a 
souvenir article to a customer, who perhaps, has not 
asked for anything particular, will interest him. For 
birthday presents, for Christmas presents, for graduation 
presents, and many other kinds, these goods will be 
found acceptable and for a price to meet the popular de- 
mand. 

Some customers who have to buy a present meet each 
suggestion you offer, with, "she has a ring;" "she has a 
bracelet," and so on, until you practically give up the 
idea of making the sale and recommend different goods, 
in a half-hearted way. But, if in stock, there are sou- 
venirs of the best the town affords, you have the oppor- 
tunity of offering something which, while not entirely 
useful, still fills the bill, so far as the intending purchaser 
is concerned. After one sale is made in this way, of this 
class of goods, you will probably sell to that same cus- 
tomer over and over again, as occasion demands, not 
only souvenir goods but more expensive ones as well. 

The former resident of the town on a return visit gen- 
erally wants mementoes to carry back as souvenirs of his 
trip. You can sell them. The resident of the town, go- 
ing away, will take some of your souvenirs along for the 
friends to be visited. The visitor to your city, from 
near at hand, will want a spoon with the bowl engraved 
with some building visited while tarrying with you. 

Fifty dollars will give you a fair assortment of the 
souvenirs, which you can strengthen as you find that it 
pays you to do so. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS . 65 

Some of the souvenir houses make spoons for the dif- 
ferent fraternities, such as Masonic, Odd Fellows and so 
on. These generally sell well to members and their 
friends. 

Remember, that it does not make any particular differ- 
ence to you what you sell your customers, so long as you 
are giving them value received for their money. Be on 
the alert to grasp opportunities before they get by you. 
Be the leader in your town. Do not follow if you can 
help it, but do not be afraid to follow where others lead 
successfully. 




66 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XVI. 



SIDE LINES IN A JEWELRY STORE. 

How They Can Be Used to Advantage — Some Lines Which 
Should Not Be Taken On— The Special Lines Which 
Fit Well Into the Jewelry Business To-Day. 

IN this age of progress and eternal hustle, men 
eagerly seize at almost anything which they think 
will pay a profit and place it among their wares. 
On account of lack of room in most cases, the jeweler 
is usually slow to branch out into kindred lines, and 
sticks more to the staples. For a conservative business 
this is all right. Of course we could never begin to 
carry the different lines of goods for which we have call, 
but if there seems to be a demand for articles from our 
establishment which we have not in stock, it would seem 
to me that it would pay us to lay in a few of them so as 
to be able to fill succeeding demands. Russell Conwell, 
in a lecture called "Acres of Diamonds," tells the story 
of himself as a boy waiting on the customers in his 
father's store and how, one day, when his father was 
away, he had three calls for jackknives, to each caller 
he explained that they did not sell jackknives. He says 
that if he had been alive to his opportunities, he would 
have had a jackknife ready for the third man when he 
called. What difference does it make to us what we sell, 
so long as we give the public value received for their 
cash. It may be that our store is located^where we could 
sell a great many more of some things than we do of 
articles directly in the jewelry business. All of us have 
seen the graduation of some of our tradesmen from the 
jewelry business into the bicycle business, from that to 
the camera business, and from cameras to the piano and 
musical instrument business. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 67 



Naturally, we will be solicited by commercial travelers, 
urging us to put in their goods as a side line. We 
should go slow in buying goods about which we are not 
acquainted, as very often our experience will cost us 
quite a sum. We may find that we have Sought out-of- 
date goods, or paid a price which with our profit added 
will place us so far above the market that we will not be 
able to sell the goods. On side lines, we should make 
our profit very moderate, as we do not want to acquire, 
through their sale, the reputation of being high-priced. 

There are some lines which the writer would not ad- 
vocate selling in a jewelry store. Take for instance, 
pocket knives of the cheap variety, mouth organs or bi- 
cycles. The corner cigar store handles the first two and 
bicycles have no place in a jewelry business notwith- 
standing the fact that some of the trade successfully con- 
ducted bicycle departments. Imagine a workman who 
has been adjusting the bearings of a bicycle and has a 
customer walk in who wishes to look at diamonds. He 
is in no condition to wait on her until he has washed his 
hands and taken off his apron. Another line which we 
should not be tempted to put in is a case of perfumery. 
The drug store is fully equipped to satisfy the public 
craving for this toilet article and we only cheapen our 
store when we put it in stock. 

There are some lines which naturally work in with the 
jewelry business, such as optical goods, field glasses, 
opera glasses, microscopes, magnifiers, compasses, tele- 
scopes and like articles. Statuary and bric-a-brac help 
to give a store an attractive and artistic appearance, cost 
moderately, and find ready sales. So, too, with vases, in 
silver plate and the various kinds of ware. The profit 
on them is not all we get from having them in a store. 
Their appearance gives a store the air of prosperity, and 
completeness of stock. 

A properly conducted stationery department, run in 
connection with a card engraving department, will pay 
handsome returns, and will bring to your store a class of 
trade who appreciate just the class of goods which a jew- 
eler handles, and whom it would be hard to attract 



68 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



through the ordinary channels. If we conduct such a 
department, we should arrange to sell only the best qual- 
ity of paper, and if we cannot do the plate engraving on 
the premises, we should connect ourselves with a house 
who not only will do first-class work, but who will be as 
prompt about returning work as the average business 
man is about sending out his statements each month. 
Promptness in this department means everything, as if 
the work is well done, the prices right, and you can be 
depended upon to have the cards or invitations ready at 
the time promised, your trade will be materially in- 
creased. 

Many jewelers have found cameras and supplies to 
sell readily, and it works in very nicely with the jewelry 
business. If we start this line we should try to have ex- 
clusive sale of any specialties which we can, as we will 
be sure of a fair profit on them. Music boxes of the 
American make either to set on tables, or the large stand- 
ing ones, are certainly a line which a jeweler can handle 
profitably, and which he can get considerable use out of 
while they rest in his store. They please customers and 
advertise themselves. The sheets of music, which can 
be sold afterward, pay a handsome profit, another^ line 
often called for is thermometers, and if a jeweler wishes 
to carry a few good ones, he will find that they not only 
pay a fair profit, but keep well in stock, and look attract- 
ive on the wall. 

One important thing we should remember, and that is 
keep good articles in whatever lines we add to our store. 
So far as cheap stuff is concerned, there are enough 
stores handling it, and there are just enough people who 
want better goods, to make it pay the jeweler to have the 
better class of goods for these customers. Figure on the 
show these goods make for you, as compared with their 
cost. Do not expect them to sell more rapidly # than 
goods which you have been in the habit of carrying in 
stock for years. If possible, keep a record of the goods 
sold by the extra department, and notice whether it pays 
for itself or not, and whether it will pay you to continue 
it or not. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS 



69 



Finally, to sum it up. If you add side lines, add those 
whose goods will help the appearance of your store. Sell 
good quality goods at very reasonable prices, and to your 
profit in cash add a reasonable amount for the show 
which these goods make. In some lines $100 invested 
will give your store the appearance oi ten or twenty times 
as much invested in jewelry or kindred articles. 




70 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XVII. 



THE JEWELER AND HIS PROFIT. 

He Should Strike a Happy Medium of Profit for the Work 
Entailed and Capital Invested, But Should Not Cut 
Prices— Some Points to be Considered. 

BEFORE considering our subject let us go back ? 
little and investigate the events leading up to it. 
Once in a while a man with considerable capital 
on his hands, and with no particular knowledge of the 
jewelry business, launches into the business, and, in a 
comparatively short time, generally speaking, his cred- 
itors have this money and he has the experience. It is 
because of this fact in all branches of trade, to a greater 
or lesser extent, that so many writers keep hammering 
away the advice, " never invest your money in a busi- 
ness you are not thoroughly trained in." The jew- 
elry business, however, differs from most others in 
tae fact that its storekeepers are usually men trained 
into the business, either with a knowledge of watch and 
clock repairing, or jewelry work, or perhaps, with a 
sprinkling of all. Why then is it that these men es- 
pecially prepared are unable to make money out of their 
investments, as others who are in a business, for which 
they have no special aptitude, and which is not connected 
with repair departments that are turning in substantial 
amounts. It must be because of poor management or 
lack of business ability; or the jeweler should certainly 
make money. His repair departments alone should pay 
his expenses, and, perhaps a little more. Why then is it 
that jewelers generally are short of money and buy on 
long time? If it were not for the repair departments 
half of the jewelry stores would suspend immediately. 
This brings me back to my subject proper. The jew- 
eler is not getting the profit he is entitled on his goods. 



EVANS' S ESS A YS. 71 

There are, of course, exceptional cases where an enor- 
mous profit is asked and obtained, although these latter 
cases are few indeed. The small jeweler is partly to 
blame for the knowledge of watches which is spread 
through the land. He has a call for instance of a high 
grade watch which he does not have in stock, and the 
customer will not wait until he gets it for him, yet the 
latter condescends to ask him how much he ought to pay 
for it. The jeweler quotes him a close price, and, with 
this lever to use, the buyer oftentimes gets his watch, at 
practically cost to the jeweler from whom he buys. 

There are several things to remember in pricing our 
goods. 

First : The lasting qualities of the same. In an average 
lifetime, how many watches, does' a man buy? Perhaps 
two or three. Why then should he buy them without 
paying the dealer a reasonable profit ? The railroad man 
for example, has but one tool to buy and that is his 
watch; and yet, he so begrudges paying the jeweler a 
profit, that he travels from store to store, in the various 
towns where he stops, until he finds the lowest priced 
place, and then buys. He, and all others to whom we 
sell watches, require a great deal of after attention in 
the way of regulating and so on for whi'ch the jeweler 
receives nothing. 

Second: The guarantees which a jeweler really has to 
place on goods ; to accomplish a sale, demand that he 
shall receive a reasonable profit. 

Third : The engraving has to be thrown in, as that is 
demanded, even on the smallest purchases. Few of us 
realize the amount of this work, or its value in a year, 
unless we send it out and have bills, come in for it. 

Fourth : The changing of goods, and altering of sizes 
of rings, and so on. 

Fifth: The work necessary to keep a stock in sale- 
able condition, the capital invested therein, the fact of 
having to place all valuable goods in safes at night, 
and place them in the cases and windows in the 
morning. Tnis one duty alone (which no other kinds 



72 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

of stores have to do), entails considerable amount of 
valuable time during the business year. 

Sixth : In no> other line of trade is so much actual 
value given in the goods as in this of ours. Take a dia- 
mond or a watch. After having it for years, and tiring 
of it, the owner can recover the greater proportion of his 
money, and during the last few years on a diamond, he 
could even sell at a profit many times. How does this 
compare with any other line. Bicycles, pianos, furni- 
ture, clothing or any thing you can think of. For some 
reason or other the jewery business has always been 
credited with demanding exorbitant profits. Of course, 
ideas differ as to what constitutes a fair profit. Some 
people are satisfied with three per cent., as the match boy 
said, who bought matches at one cent per box and sold 
them for four cents. 

The difference between the cost and selling price of 
an article is not the profit. Look over your books, and 
notice what your expenses are for a year, and then tak- 
ing the net cost of your goods sold during the same 
period and figure what per cent, to add to your goods; 
you should have the actual cost before you add on the 
percentage of profit you are entitled to. The manufac- 
turer and wholesaler both know that it costs a certain 
amount to sell goods but the retailer evidently does not 
so figure, or we would not hear of valuable railroad 
watches being sold at a profit of only one dollar. It is 
not necessary to overcharge customers. There is a 
happy medium between the two extremes of overcharg- 
ing and the giving of goods away. We are entitled to a 
fair profit, and, if we cannot get it let the customer go 
elsewhere. Don't "dicker." Many figure that if a cus- 
tomer leaves the store without purchasing, that they are 
practically out of pocket the difference between the cost 
and the offer made, so they accept the cut and make the 
sale. Once in a while you will meet a man who will try 
to beat you down, but failing to do so, will buy with the 
remark, "I would not have bought if you had cut the 
price." People get sick and tired of being confidentially 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 73 

told, "the price to you is one dollar less." A cut made 
to a customer once, means that he buys at a reduced 
price, ever after. There is an instance in my mind 
which illustrates that the price-cutter does not always 
effect a sale. A young man was much taken with a gold 
filled watch with a seven jewel movement which sold in 
A's store for $18.50, but before buying thought he would 
look around. He stepped into B's and was shown a 
watch answering the same description for $22. The 
young man informed the jeweler that he could buy the 
same watch for $18.50; B promptly said he would make 
the price $18 and put in a fifteen jewel movement. This 
was too much of a "cut" for the young man. He 
started back for the first place, and made his purchase. 

This story is merely intended to illustrate that the 
buying of jewelry is a matter of confidence, rather than 
price. A favorable opinion is generated in the mind of 
the customer, regarding the merits of the jeweler's 
goods and of the jeweler himself, if he declines to make 
a cut in price to effect a sale. The result of this con- 
fidence is shown by future sales to the same customer, 
at a profit. 

How many watchmakers who after years of saving 
from their salaries and entering the business for them- 
selves, and with all their savings invested get less from 
business and work harder than they did in their former 
positions? This ought not to be so. Other branches of 
business charge a larger profit than we do, and their 
goods have to be bought over and over again. If the 
jewelers would only adopt a code of ethics similar to 
the professions regarding customs and charges, we 
would all be better off. We should have fixed prices 
for goods, and hold to those prices. 



H EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XVIII. 



THE BASIS FOR CREDIT. 

The Difference of Wholesale and Retail Credit Discussed- 
Little Difficulty Usually in Getting Goods on Credit- 
Therefore Caution is Most Necessary— If Credit is Given. 
Keep Close Track of Your Customers. 

CASH and credit are familiar terms to all business 
men. Some dealers make a specialty of the 
credit business, knowing that while they are tak- 
ing risks all the time, many of which are uncertain, yet 
the increased profits obtainable from such sales under 
such circumstances, justifies them in their conduct. 
Credit is a short word ; but it means a great deal. With- 
out it business would be hampered to a great extent, 
and many would be unable to continue. But what is 
credit? What is it that leads a man in New York 
to ship his goods to San Francisco, to an unknown 
man, whom he has never seen? He has confidence 
in the man's integrity and his good intentions. In- 
tentions, however, count for little. We have all heard 
of a certain place that is paved with good intentions. 
But a willingness to pay, and a desire to keep even with 
the world, is certainly one of the means of establishing 
credit. But to the average credit man it is ability rather 
than intentions which count; for, if a man is able to pay, 
they will usually see that he does pay, whether or not he 
wishes to. But while the retail jeweler is often ruined 
by extending credit indiscriminately, it is also probably 
true that more are ruined by having too much credit 
thrust upon them. There is one particular trouble with 
the jewelry business. There is scarcely any limit to the 
amount of stock which one may carry in a comparatively 
small store. Other lines of business either have to build 
on additions or keep their stock within reasonable limits. 



EVANS' S ESSA YS. 75 

Not so the jeweler. The goods shown him appeal to his 
artistic eye; he appreciates the workmanship which has 
been put on them; they *re the class of goods he would 
like to sell; and so, encouraged by offers of dating he 
puts them in stock. Perhaps his purchase is a necklace 
of pearls, or a diamond tiara, which takes up but little 
space, and runs into the thousands of dollars. He puts 
it in a tray with other goods, or, perhaps on account of 
its great value, he puts it in the safe for protection from 
thieves. He doesn't sell it, but still he has the indebted- 
ness for it hanging over him for months, and perhaps 
gets still farther behind with other payments, because of 
other purchases of like goods, that he may be forced to 
the wall, or acquire the reputation of being slow. 

In extending credit the jeweler should be careful not 
to urge expensive goods upon people who cannot afford 
their ownership. Of course if a man is practically free 
from debt, and has a large stock, he can afford to take 
occasional chances in giving credit, which he cannot af- 
ford to, nor has he the right to, if he owes a large 
amount to creditors. 

Giving credit in the retail business is a very different 
matter from giving it in the wholesale business. The 
wholesaler knows where his customers are generally 
even if he cannot collect his accounts; but a retailer's 
customers change around so, and move so easily, and so 
unostentatiously, that he sometimes cannot locate them, 
let alone collect what is due. 

A man can perhaps afford to do a certain proportion 
of his business on credit. He should, however, have 
definite understandings with his several customers re- 
garding time of payment. These should be entered with 
the account and a memorandum book or pad should be 
used to keep track of the different accounts due at dif- 
ferent times. The same method can be practiced with 
our accounts with our wholesalers. When a bill of 
goods is bought or received, enter name and the amount 
less the discount under the date in the memorandum 



;6 EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

book or pad, when it will be due. When that day ar- 
rives it is immediately brought to our mind, and the ac- 
count is paid, if we have the money ; if not, we can refer 
to our memorandum of accounts receivable, and find out 
what there is due according to agreements with custom- 
ers. This simplifies collections. Another good point 
about keeping accounts coming due constantly before us, 
is, that we will oftentimes be prevented from making 
purchases which are unnecessary, because being con- 
scious of indebtedness coming due, we will be extremely 
cautious about purchasing, and will buy only what is 
needed for immediate use. 

There is never any difficulty about buying goods for 
a jewelry store, unless it may be occasionally some 
grades of watch movements, and there is no reason for 
overstocking because of any doubts as to our ability to 
secure goods when wanted. Buying in moderate quan- 
tities makes small bills which are easily paid when due. 
Credit should be handled carefully, as it is the most 
priceless asset of a man's business, and, while difficult to 
establish, is very easily lost. Honesty and straightfor- 
ward dealing are commendable in all, and certainly win 
out in the long run. 

It is certainly worth considerable to be able to send an 
order for goods and receive them as soon as the express 
can bring them. But, how differently situated is the 
man without credit. Delays follow the receipt of his 
orders whilst inquiries are being made, and, after what 
seems to him an interminable length of time, he receives 
either the goods (sent after consideration), or else a 
statement of their inability to ship the goods. 

When we consider the length of time it takes to build 
up a trade acquaintance and credit, it certainly demon- 
strates how carefully we should use it. Never use all 
the credit you can get. Caution is a good word for us 
all to remember; caution about granting and receiving 
credit. A man who owns a little business and sells for 
cash, or practically so, and is equally cautious about pur- 
chasing, will succeed; slowly, 'tis true, but nevertheless 



EVANS' S ESS A YS 



77 



he will improve his condition if he follows the beaten 
pathways of conducting business. Others starting in 
at the same time and using the extent of their credit, 
trusting Tom, Dick and Harry, may distance them in the 
race, but the probabilities are the other way. "Slow and 
sure," is a good rule to follow, as is also "Make haste 
slowly." 




7% EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



CHAPTER XIX. 



THE ONE-PRICE SYSTEM. 

Does it Pay to Stick to the One-Price Principle ? — The Jew- 
eler to Blame for Most of the Dickering — Make Your 
Prices Eauitable and Then Maintain Them. 

DANIEL WEBSTER in his memorable speech in 
reply to Hayne used the expression, "What is 
all this worth?" It is my intention to take 
that expression as a sort of text from which to draw 
several lessons, and to consider whether or not it pays, 
to stand up for a principle in conducting a jewelry busi- 
ness. The principle I wish to consider is whether or not 
a store can do business on a strictly one price basis, and 
whether the losses of sales through sticking to this prin- 
ciple are made up by other sales to customers who like 
to do business in a business-like way. 

We continually harp on the fact that jewelry pur- 
chases are made in certain places because of confidence 
in the firm's integrity. Why is it then that so many 
people want to look around a little before deciding, and 
speak about buying where they can do the best, when 
they are not familiar with goods, qualities, or trade- 
marks, and to whom if an article is gold, it's gold, and 
if plated, it's plated, they making no distinction in qual- 
ities. Then there are a great many people who never 
buy unless some concession is made to them. Such peo- 
ple believe themselves to be a little wiser than the aver- 
age mortal, and glory in the fact, and not only do they 
glory in it, but they spread the news abroad. 

There is no other business under the sun where there 
is so much dickering as to prices as in the jewelry busi- 
ness, and the jeweler himself is to blame for it. There 
are so many jewelers in each town, that none of them is 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 79 

doing as much business as he would like to do, and so 
if a customer appears interested in an article, but speaks 
as though he was going to look elsewhere before pur- 
chasing, the jeweler takes it for granted that his price is 
a little high, and so he begins to come down, finally at 
last making the sale. Those who pursue this method 
justify themselves by saying that if they let the customer 
leave without purchasing, and he buys elsewhere, they 
have not only lost the profit on that one particular sale, 
but perhaps lost his future business. So, figuring that 
a half-loaf is better than none at all, they will make any 
concession necessary to make 'the sale. 

Of course, if you refuse to make a concession to him, 
and Smith lets him have ten per cent, discount, perhaps 
he will think Smith is the best fellow, but after all is 
said and done, when he is at home by himself with his 
purchase, and he has time to think it all over, what do 
you think his real opinion is of the two 1 men? Don't 
you suppose that he realizes that Smith was tickled to 
make the sale, even at a discount, and even threw in a 
case with the article, and don't you suppose that he 
thinks more of you as a man, and as a business man, be- 
cause of the principle which you maintained, even at a 
loss to yourself? Some jewelers feel that if a customer 
leaves without purchasing, that they have suffered a per- 
manent loss. That this is not so, any thinking man will 
agree. 

The other side of the argument, and the side which 
the writer favors, is the one-price idea, as that is the 
only fair and honest way of doing business. The man 
who tries to squeeze your profit out of the price of your 
goods should not buy an article for one cent less than 
your friend who passes by all the other stores to trade 
with you, because he feels satisfied that he can depend 
upon you regarding the quality of the goods, and that 
you will not charge him more than is right for it. He 
asks for no discount because he is a friend of yours, and 
is willing for you to make a fair profit upon his transac- 



80 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

tions with you. But suppose that he finds that you have 
sold an article similar in design and quality to an ac- 
quaintance of his, for less than he paid for it ; or suppose 
that because of his friendship for you, he recommends a 
friend to you, and you make a concession to him, and he 
goes back and tells your first customer about it. What 
then? The writer knows of an instance of this kind 
where a man working in a wholesale house had been 
buying his shoes at a certain place for years, and had 
taken many a customer to that store. One day, in the 
generosity of his heart, the shoe dealer threw off a quar- 
ter on a pair of three dollar shoes, because of his trade 
and influence. Upon returning to his work, a fellow 
employe, noticing the shoes, asked where he bought 
them, and what he had paid for them. Upon being told 
where, and the regular price of the shoes, he went to the 
store, and being a close buyer, came back with the shoes 
for $2.50. He told his friend, who had recommended 
him, about it, with the result that the shoe dealer lost 
the trade and influence of nearly every one of the men 
who had been his customers for years. 

This chasing a customer to the door, and reducing the 
price more and more, until the sale is made — or lost, is 
poor policy. You do not want to sell a customer unless 
satisfaction will result. Let a customer go and make 
his comparisons before he buys, because if you do not 
he will spend the rest of the day running around to see 
if he got "stuck." When a customer says that he does 
not want to buy to-day, that should suffice. When you 
have shown the goods, and explained their merits, and 
named your price, it is up to the customer. Give him 
a chance. Perhaps he does not intend to buy to-day 
anyway, and is just "looking," as he says. Encourage 
the habit of "looking." 

Personally I would not enter a store where they make 
it difficult to retire gracefully; where you feel yourself 
penned up in a corner, and that you must either buy or 
lie, in order to get out. No wonder so many people 



EVANS'S ESSAYS 



81 



adopt the subterfuge that they are "looking" for a 
friend. Price does not influence sales to the extent that 
many believe. The more jewelers there are who main- 
tain prices as quoted, the better it will be for all con- 
cerned. Other businesses do not throw off on every 
purchase; then why should the jeweler? His goods last 
longer, seldom need duplicating, and, when selling them, 
he should receive a fair profit. Some people consider 
that the jeweler makes a tremendous profit, and it is no 
wonder when we hear of the cuts made to make a sale. 
I believe that people respect the man who maintains 
his stated prices, and that it is to him they will go when 
they have to buy anything of consequence. People are 
suspicious of the too-anxious salesman. 




S2 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XX. 



"YOUR MONEY BACK IF YOU WANT IT." 

Some Reasons Why This Favorite Slogan in Some Trades 
Cannot be Used in the Jewelry Business — Be Ready to 
Exchange, But Not to Turn Back Cash. 

IN this age of the world, new ideas are constantly be- 
ing brought forward which are supposed to have 
more or less merit as influencers of trade. One of 
these, of which w r e have heard considerable is that it is 
good business to offer to your customer his money back 
if he wants it. In some business, it probably will pay 
to make this offer, and it will not make a great 
deal of difference whether the money is given back 
or not. Take the grocery business, for instance. 
Supposing the grocer refunds the money, the same 
customer will doubtless be there to-morrow again to 
make purchases. So, too, with the clothier, hardware 
dealer, hatter and furnisher, and through a long line of 
businesses. Unquestionably, it makes selling goods 
easier, to accompany the sale with the offer to refund the 
money if they decide that they do not want the goods. 
But why is the purchase made in the first place, if the 
purchaser does not want the goods. Why does he not 
keep his money, and you your goods, if he is going to 
come back for his money in a day or two. The backers 
of thi's idea advance the argument that it begets confi- 
dence in the store. The writer believes that the same 
confidence can be obtained by straightforward methods 
of doing business, and letting a customer go and look 
elsewhere before he buys, and then let him buy where 
he wishes to, without any offer that he can bring the 
goods back and get his money. 

The jewelry business is a little different from any 
other business which you can conceive of. There are a 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 83 

few good reasons which can be given, which will show 
the disadvantages of offering to refund the purchase 
price if dissatisfied. In the first place, people have the 
rather disagreeable habit of carrying around to all the 
other stores, their jewelry purchases, to find out if they 
paid too much for them. Right here, let me say, that I 
think the trade generally make a mistake when they 
quote prices on purchases made elsewhere. The time to 
compete is before the purchase is made. To resume my 
subject, we will suppose that Jones sells a 25 year case 
with a 15 jewel movement, and figures a fair profit 
thereon, and sells it with the understanding that he will 
return the money if the buyer wishes it. The buyer of 
the watch carries it to Smith, around the corner, to see 
what he would have sold him the watch for, and Smith, 
not knowing what Jones had sold the watch for, and see- 
ing that it is a new watch, and in order to be on the safe 
side, and be able to impress the questioner with the fact 
that he (Smith) sells goods at a lower price than others, 
will quote as close to the cost price as he can afford to 
go. The recent customer at Jones', either becomes an 
immediate purchaser at Smith's or he calls on Jones for 
the refund of his money, and buys his second watch at 
Smith's. Was his confidence strengthened in Jones by 
the fact that his money was refunded? If so, where 
will he naturally go for his next purchase in the jewelry 
line? If he does what most people will do, he will go 
to Smith's on the theory that he sells at lower prices. 
Where has Jones improved his condition? Does not 
the offer of "Your Money Back if You Want It" en- 
courage the running around town to compare prices? 
Has the jeweler the same chance to make up on cus- 
tomers for the money thus refunded, on future sales, 
that other lines of business have? If a sale is made, and 
the purchaser has received value received, he should 
keep it, except, in occasional cases, where an exchange 
is necessary, or where a special arrangement is made. 
But let such cases be the exception, and not the rule. 



84 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

If we are conducting our business on right principles, 
and selling reliable goods, why should we agree to re- 
fund the money? Of course, our time isn't worth a 
great deal, but it is worth just enough so that we cannot 
afford to waste it. Time is money, and we should so 
consider it. Of necessity, we have to spend time show- 
ing goods, which at that particular time show no profit, 
but such time is not wasted. We cannot gauge busi- 
ness, nor tell to whom we are going to make a sale, so 
we use each customer courteously, and pleasantly, mak- 
ing suggestions, and trying to assist them in coming to 
a decision to buy, and perhaps, if to-day is not the day, 
they will call again, and the sale will be consummated. 

But it is different when you have taken a half hour or 
so, showing goods, and explaining their virtues, and 
have finally accomplished the sale, and the customer has 
left with his purchase. Suppose that it is a ring which 
he has purchased for a young lady, and he presents it to 
her, and within the week, receives it back again. Ought 
he to have the privilege of returning the ring, and ob- 
taining his money, or is not the jeweler doing all that it 
is right to ask or expect, when he willingly offers to ex- 
change it for anything else in his line which the ownei 
wishes to? 

The writer is of the opinion, that jewelers generally 
will do well to adopt a rule, to this effect: "Goods Ex- 
changed Willingly, within 30 Days of the Purchase," 
and adhere to that as far as possible. The writer has 
seen attempts made to exchange, at holiday time, articles 
like chain bracelets, which were purchased a full year 
before. The jeweler cannot afford to change around so 
much. In proportion to what the jeweler sells, and the 
fact that his goods last longer than those purchased in 
any other line, his profits are much lower than they 
should be. 

To sum it all up, let us not be too eager to make a sale. 
Let the customer decide for himself, and when he so de- 
cides, let him keep what he gets, unless it is defective or 
he wishes to exchange for something else. There are 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



85 



cases once in a while when we all gladly give back money 
to have rid of a customer, but such cases are few and far 
between. If people find that you are easy in such mat- 
ters, they will impose upon you and ask favors which 
they would not expect elsewhere, and they will not think 
any more of you for granting their request. 




86 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXL 



THE JEWELER'S GUARANTEE. 

This Business is the Only One Where the Buyers Expect 
Goods to Wear Forever — Retailers Are Too Liberal 
With Their Guarantees on Plated Goods — A Campaign 
of Education Needed Along This Line. 

OF course, all business have their drawbacks, but 
we are all in a position to realize fully the disad- 
vantages of our own business. I think the most 

source of trouble to the jeweler is the guarantees which 
he feels called upon to make in order to do business. In 
no other line of trade is so much expected or demanded. 
A man buys a pair of shoes, and in two or three months 
he goes and buys another pair, and thinks nothing about 
it. Clothing, hats and caps, underwear, shirts, and so 
on, fade away, and there is no complaint made to the 
stores where they were bought. But let the poor jeweler 
beware if the pin-tongue for which he received the mag- 
nificent amount of 10 cents comes out or breaks within 
three months, or even longer. So, too, if he cleans a 
watch, and the mainspring breaks, he is expected to do 
this work for nothing. Not so with the bicycle re- 
pairer. You can have your wheel repaired every day in 
the year, and you will pay for it each time. Why is 
there this distinction? Is it not the fault of the jewelry 
trade that this condition of affairs exists? The people 
can be trained either to expect a great deal for little 
money or to expect just what they pay for, and no more. 
If a watch is repaired, we should guarantee the work 
done, and no more. It is not necessary to tell the cus- 
tomer than we guarantee the watch to run for a year af- 
ter repairing it. If he takes it out and drops it, the 
guarantee should expire at once. The jeweler has 
enough free jobs, such as setting and regulating watches, 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 87 

straightening spectacles, etc., without adding to the list. 
I think the jeweler does entirely too much for nothing. 
A good plan to follow, is to decline to do jobs while the 
customer waits. Never mind if it can be done in a min- 
ute. Tell them to call in a half-hour, if you want to be 
accommodating, or have them leave them a day or two. 
You cannot charge what a job is worth if you do it too 
quick. It is not merely the time you take to do it that 
they should be charged for, but also for the ability to do 
it, and the tools to work with. 

If a watch is brought in for a mainspring, or jewel, 
and we can see that it needs cleaning, insist on the cus- 
tomer having it cleaned at the same time. If he takes it 
out of the store, after the spring is put in, and it stops, 
he will charge this to your spring, and you will have to 
clean the watch for nothing or have a dissatisfied cus- 
tomer. 

A jeweler in making sales should be careful about 
guaranteeing goods. It is not enough that the manufac- 
turer says that he will replace anything returned within 
ten years, we should figure on the number of people who 
will not return to complain about the article, but will 
think that we intentionally deceived them. I have heard 
of an instance where a woman in buying a plated brace- 
let, for which the jeweler asked $2, made the inquiry, 
"Hiow long will it wear ?" And he told her twenty years, 
but when she returned with it in three months, complain- 
ing, he asked her what she expected for $2. On plated 
goods, it is better to go slow on promises, and tell them 
that it is impossible to say how long it will wear; but if 
it did not last a reasonable length of time, we would re- 
place it. We hear of campaigns of education, and it will 
pay the jewelry trade of the country to try and educate 
the public to a knowledge of the fact that plated goods 
are not as good as the solid article, nor will they wear 
forever. If all would stand together and talk the same 
way, we would all be a great deal better off. But if one 
dealer will not guarantee a chain which he sells for $2, 
for twenty years, and another store does so guarantee 



88 EVANS'S ESS A YS. 



such a chain, naturally it strikes the inquirer that the 
man who guarantees an article for the longest time is 
giving him more value for his money. 

The guarantee business is certainly worked overtime. 
There is no line of (business where the goods sold are so 
lasting or give the same universal satisfaction as in this 
of ours. But as we know that our goods do not need re- 
placing hardly ever, it does seem that we should not feel 
called upon to promise almost impossible things to make 
the sale. Occasionally we find stores that guarantee 
watches they sell for five years. Whether or not they 
make good defects free during all that time, the writer 
knows not, but my opinion is that one year is long enough 
to guarantee a watch movement, as that offers ample 
time for the exchange of imperfect movements. An- 
other matter which needs considering is the jeweler's lia- 
bility as to stones lost out of rings sold. Some people 
are unnecessarily rough in their usage of anything which 
is guaranteed to them, as they believe in the theory that 
in such way they get the most out of the guarantee, be- 
cause if they lose a stone from a ring or pin, they expect 
the jeweler to replace it free of charge. It is perhaps a 
good idea to do this the first time it occurs where the 
stone is inexpensive, but to inform the customer that a 
charge will be made in the future. People as a rule, how- 
ever, do not appreciate things which they get for noth- 
ing, and are better satisfied to pay for them. If people 
find they can impose upon us in enforcing guarantees, 
they will do so. It is a good idea to stand on our dignity, 
and we will find that in nine cases out of ten we will hold 
their trade, and do more business with them than before. 

Finally, in guaranteeing an article, say no more than is 
necessary or than you can surely fulfill. Make good the 
defects in your guarantee, cheerfully, but do no more than 
that. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 89 



CHAPTER XXII. 



WHY TRADE PAPERS ARE NECESSARY. 

The Usefulness of the Trade Paper — Some Reasons Why it 
is Money in a Retailer's Pocket to Read His Trade 
Journals — Encourage the Editor by Subscribing and 
Paying Promptly. 

ALL of us have become so accustomed to the fact 
that there are trade papers, that we seldom if 
ever stop to> consider the great benefits resulting 
from them, or the difference there would be in our con- 
ditions were they all suddenly to suspend. The trouble 
with the jewelry trade in general is that each individual 
merchant is afraid to converse with his local brethren, 
and give them the benefits of his experiences, and in re- 
turn, to learn from them. This, then, places each indi- 
vidual in a hole by himself, and leaves him to rely upon 
his own efforts for everything, he may learn or acquire in 
the way of knowledge of his business, with the exception 
that through the columns of his trade papers he has the 
means at hand for learning what other dealers in other 
cities are doing to improve their trade and their condi- 
tions. Trained writers in trade papers are continually 
exerting themselves to present suggestions to their read- 
ers to assist them in promoting their business. 

Then, again, jewelers who would not think of offering 
suggestions to their local brethren will offer them to the 
jewelers of the country through the columns of the trade 
papers, and it is well that this is so. Then, again, when 
a jeweler is at a loss as to how to handle repairs of a 
difficult nature, to whom does he turn for help, aid and 
assistance? Why, to his trade paper, of course. He 
feels that he can ask questions of them which he could 
not of any one else. Nor does he ask in vain. The ed- 



90 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

itor is always willing' to give such advice as he can, or to 
refer the inquirer to others better informed who can fur- 
nish the desired information. Then, in cases where it 
is desired to obtain goods of unique designs, or goods 
whose makers cannot easily be found, much correspond- 
ence and long waiting are obviated through the medium 
of the trade papers. 

A trade paper keeps the retailer up-to-date regarding 
the new goods which are being brought out from time to 
time, and through its advertising columns places him in 
immediate communication with the source of supply for 
these goods. Traveling men are out all the while, but 
it does not always pay to await their coming before get- 
ting in goods. Very often we will find that the whole- 
salers are waiting for inquiries before they stock up on 
new goods to any great extent. An advertisement of a 
wholesaler, placed in the columns of the trade papers, 
impresses upon the minds of the readers the name of 
that house, and, involuntarily, when they think of cer- 
tain lines of goods, they think of certain houses. Then, 
too, it makes the path of the traveling representative 
comparatively easy, if the house uses printer's ink to any 
extent. A representative for a well advertised house 
makes new customers in one or two calls, whereas, the 
traveler for the unknown house has to work for years 
developing his trade. 

The trade paper offers through its columns sugges- 
tions for trade winning, for advertising, for window 
dressing, and, perhaps, in one of these articles, one may 
obtain one hint which will prove to him to be worth the 
price of his subscription for years. 

The jewelry trade paper also keeps us in mind of the 
fact that there are in the land men who believe it easier 
to live in a dishonest manner, at others' expense, than to 
pursue a legitimate undertaking. It may be possible 
that the very trick you read about to-day may be tried 
upon you this week. If so, you are forewarned, and 
forewarned is forearmed. It may be that something 



EVANS'S ESSAYS, 91 

entirely new may be tried upon you. In either case, 
your chances are better because of the fact that you 
keep yourself familiar with such tricks through read- 
ing your trade papers Some jewelers lead a very 
quiet life, and seldom if ever have a dishonest person en- 
ter their store, but we all should keep ourselves from 
falling into a trance while waiting upon a customer, only 
to awake to the fact (after his departure) that' he has 
taken a valuable ring along with him. 

Trade papers need encouragement in their work. 
Kind words of approbation are appreciated by every one. 
If you see something in a paper which has proven very 
helpful to you, do not be afraid to say so. If some one 
department appeals to you more than the rest, let the ed- 
itor know that too. A trade paper, knowing what its 
subscribers need, or wish, can come pretty near to satis- 
fying them. Another way to encourage the trade paper 
is by sending the price of your subscription promptly, by 
furnishing items of interest to the paper, and, those 
whose business warrants it, by inserting advertisements 
therein. The retailer knows that he must advertise in 
the daily papers in order to bring himself to the atten- 
tion of the public; so too, the manufacturer or whole- 
saler who wishes to receive the greatest returns, must 
use the columns of the trade papers. To whom does the 
retail jeweler send his orders for selection packages, or 
for special goods which he needs in a hurry? Why, to 
the firm that advertises, whether or not he deals with 
them regularly. He does this because he does not wish 
to be delayed, and so he sends to headquarters, as he un- 
derstands the firms to be, who advertise in the trade pa- 
pers. The trade paper is a help therefore, to wholesaler 
and retailer alike, because it puts each in touch with the 
other. One of them, the seller, wishes the acquaintance 
of the buyer; the other, the buyer, looking for the one 
from whom to purchase. 

How any jeweler can run his business without the aid 
of his trade papers, is hard for me to understand. Some 



9 2 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 






maintain that they have not time to read them. This is 
a fallacy. However, it is unnecessary for a man to read 
everything in a paper. But the few minutes it takes for 
one to scan or read a trade paper will prove of inestima- 
ble value to one, because in addition to the fact that one 
learns without knowing it, it also relaxes the brain, and 
releases it from the cares of one's immediate business, 
and reminds him that there are others all over the coun- 
try engaged in the same undertaking, and working under 
the same or perhaps greater difficulties. Great is the 
trade paper, and long may it live. 







EVANS'S ESSAYS. 93 



CHAPTER XXIII. 



THE JEWELER AND THE DEPARTMENT STORE. 

How to Hold Trade in Competition With the Bargain 
Counter — Some Arguments Suggested to be Used on 
Customers. 

WE are all of us prepared to meet fair competition, 
and must necessarily expect to lose sales occa- 
sionally to our competitors, even as they also 
lose them to us. But the competition which exists out- 
side of our own craftsmen is what we have most to fear, 
and need to agitate most against. When I write agita- 
tion, I do not mean publicly decrying the department 
store and its methods, as the surest way to help any one 
to succeed is to talk against them. As far as possible 
retail jewelers should not buy goods from those who sell 
to department stores, as some patterns are so pronounced 
that a customer can carry them in their mind's eye from 
store to store while shopping. If we find that certain 
lines of goods which these stores sell at cttT prices go slow 
with us, cut them right out of the stock, and let them 
have the sale of these goods. Confine your stock to high- 
class goods. Do not go in for the cheapest which you 
can buy, for that is the class of goods which these stores 
make a specialty of. They appeal directly to those who 
consider the price of an article as the most important 
thing to be considered in making a purchase. It is our 
duty, and plainly to our advantage, to let the price 
question be the secondary consideration, and talk qual- 
ity, first, last, and all the time. Do not advertise prices 
in the papers, because your sales would not be materially 
increased thereby, and the department store could cut 
under you. A few years ago, in one of the trade pap- 
ers, there appeared the account of a jeweler who tried 
to fight it out with a department store on alarm clocks, 



94 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

but it resulted in his own discomfiture. He finally cut 
the price to five cents less than cost, and the dry goods 
store sent their clerks, one by one, and bought his stock 
of clocks, and sold them at one cent apiece less than he 
was selling them, he losing five cents on each clock, and 
they losing but one cent. 

What we should do is to talk quality good and loud; 
shout it, if necessary. The average customer is afraid to 
trust to his own judgment, and we should try to make 
him feel that he is secured when he make a purchase in 
our store. If a customer informs you that he can buy 
an alarm clock for ten cents less than you are selling 
them, do not try to meet the price, but show the benefits 
derived from purchasing a clock where there is a guar- 
antee attached, which protects a customer should the 
clock be defective or a spring break. Ntever acknowl- 
edge that your goods are the same as the department 
store sells. Tell your customer that you do not know 
what kind of goods they do sell, but you do know what 
the goods are that you have for sale. If, in showing 
other goods, say watches, and the eustdrner talks about 
looking at a department store stock before deciding, you 
can do yourself and your brother jewelers a good turn by 
urging the man to make his jewelry purchases in a jew- 
elry store, where he can be assured of having anything 
wrong made right. Tell him to go to one of the other 
jewelers and compare prices, and that he will be sure of 
getting something good wherever he decides to buy. 

Another way to hold trade against competition is to 
tell customers that they will come out better if they will 
go to the store where they have confidence that they will 
receive fair treatment, and make known their desires, 
and the amount they can put into whatever they wish to 
buy. People respect you more if you do not act afraid 
for them to look around. If a customer is thinking of 
looking at several stocks before he buys, he will go any 
way, and he might as well have your suggestion added 
to so look, but always impress upon them to come back 
again and look at your goods before purchasing. Some 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 95 

1 : I 

: i., • I I. .-' ■ b-j. .},..* 

will not, of course, come back, but others are as good as 
their word and will come back, and the chances are in 
favor of your making the sale. 

Surely, well-trained salesmen, who have a thorough 
knowledge of the jewelry business, should have no diffi- 
culty in overcoming the advances of the department store, 
whose sole argument is price. Show your familiarity 
with the goods, your knowledge of precious stones. Al- 
lowing that the department store sells at a less price than 
the jewelry store (and they very seldom do except on 
trash, which the jewelry store should not handle) it 
should be an easy matter to convince customers that the 
advice of the expert is surely worth the small sum extra 
which it costs. 

Never let a customer think that the department store 
hurts you in the least. Always talk and act on the 
theory that there are some people who never buy goods 
in their regular channels, but are constantly on the look- 
out to buy something cheap. They form the crowd at 
the auction sales and the bargain counters, and it is a 
useless matter to try and hold their trade. But the 
great class of people, who are anxious to buy where they 
can save money, and yet do not want cheap truck, we 
can convince that the only right place to buy watches, 
jewelry and kindred articles, is in the legitimate jewelry 
store. 



96 EVANS'S ESSA YS 



THE JEWELER AND THE SEASONS. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 



THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. 

How the Retail Jeweler Should Keep Himself Busy in the 
Slack Period After the Holiday Season — Hints as to the 
Accommodation of Customers — An Exact Inventory 
Should be Taken About February i. 

WE have all passed through the jeweler's partic- 
ular season of the year; the time when he has 
his harvest, and when he does a month's busi- 
ness in a couple of days. Whether your business 
came up to your expectations or not, you must bring 
yourself at once to renewed efforts for the new 
year. Local conditions, and even neighborhood condi- 
tios, so often affect a man's business, that each is him- 
self the sole judge as to whether or not business was 
good. 

After the close of the selling season, comes the 
settling up period, which affords the honest man as 
much satisfaction as the buying and selling of goods 
does. After Christmas comes the ever regular chang- 
ing of goods, altering rings, engraving of articles put 
over until after Christmas. Then, too, our repairing 
department, neglected during the two or three weeks im- 
mediately prior to Christmas, again demands our atten- 
tion. The watches, clocks and jewelry, left during De- 
cember, and all of which are promised, right along after 
Christmas, all have their respective owners, who want to 
get them again, and so the jeweler finds himself crowded 
as much or more than he was before Christmas, and with 
a great deal less in it. 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 97 

But we cannot sell holiday presents continuously, and 
the repairing department is after all the mainstay of the 
jewelry business, as by means of it we obtain and hold, 
in addition to the immediate cash forthcoming, a share 
of each repair customer's trade on jewelry and kindred 
articles. 

So the jeweler after Christmas must necessarily first 
turn his attention repair-ways. Then, too, we will find 
that many goods through frequent handling need polish- 
ing, wiping, recarding or retagging. All this should be 
attended to promptly. Trade will go on in January and 
the succeeding months, although not as brisk as during 
the holiday month. Customers calling in January, hav- 
ing more time to consider purchases, are apt to be, if 
anything, more particular as to appearance and price. 
If the goods are fresh-looking there is no need of offer- 
ing them at a discount. Many jewelers would rather 
sacrifice their profit on an article than spend ten minutes 
cleaning it up. Do not let your store acquire the ap- 
pearance of a second-hand store. Keep it up with as 
much care now as before Christmas. The writer has ac- 
quaintances in the trade who make it a practice every 
November to go through their stock, and carefully pol- 
ish and recard or tag, each article. The store then takes 
on its annual holiday appearance, and these stores with 
the rest do business. But, as before stated, and as all 
are fully aware, there will not be a holiday business again 
until the next year, and as we are all anxious to ob- 
tain cash during the months preceding, we should keep 
up our efforts. It does seem rather hard, perhaps, that 
after an exhausting month of holiday work, preceded by 
several months of preparation, that the jeweler cannot 
take a week's rest, but if we fall behind now we will not 
make it up during the year. 

The jeweler should be just as wideawake as any one. 
and while he cannot make the claims or statements of 
the large department stores, yet, he should be seasonable. 
His after-Christmas advertising should be in keeping 



98 EVANS' S ESSA YS. 

with the time of the year. His first ad. should be a card 
of thanks to patrons of the past, to be followed by a gen- 
erous wish for "a Happy New Year," and later by a re- 
quest for support and patronage during the coming year, 
and promising the same courteous treatment and same 
endeavors to merit their approbation and friendly sup- 
port as in the past. 

Goods which are brought in for exchange should be 
exchanged with the same gentlemanly manner that they 
were sold with originally. Complaints regarding the fin- 
ish or appearance of articles sold should receive proper 
attention and treatment. Sizes of rings should be 
changed without a murmur. Changes of goods, for 
something not in stock, should be made, even if it is nec- 
essary to obtain the article especially. We have the op- 
portunity of making new customers in this way. Many 
of those who will come in with articles for engraving, or 
exchange, will be people who have never entered your 
establishment before, and, although the article they are 
changing may be an inexpensive one, through acquaint- 
ance other more profitable sales will result. 

So, at the threshold of the New Year, with the results 
of the Christmas business before us, and with the many 
opportunities for developing our trade right ahead of us, 
let us resolve that ihe coming year will be our best year 
yet, if we can make it so by fair, square dealing, and 
that your guiding rule will be the Golden Rule, "Do unto 
others as you would that they should do unto you." 

A thorough business man, in connection with his busi- 
ness, takes an annual or semi-annual inventory of his 
stock and fixtures, which, together with his cash balances, 
shows the assets of his business. From these it is a 
simple matter to deduct his liabilities ; the balance remain- 
ing will be his net worth. 

Appearances are deceitful, and it is an impossibility for 
any man, by taking a glance through his stock, to tell 
whether or not he has more value in his stock this year 
than last, Every business man owes it to himself and to 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 99 



his creditors to take a thorough inventory at least once 
a year. It matters not what month or time of year this 
is done, so long as it is done regularly. For the jeweler, 
with his heaviest season coming immediately before Jan- 
uary 1st, and followed by a fortnight of extraordinary 
work, "catching up" his work, both repair and new, 
perhaps February 1st offers the most practical time to 
take this inventory. 

You may have a larger or a smaller bank balance than 
in previous years, but that signifies nothing. The cash 
balance does not show the correct returns; neither does 
the possession or lack of certain goods. Our financial 
condition may be apparently fine and we perhaps con- 
gratulate ourselves on our good fortune. An inventory 
perhaps might show, however, that our stock of certain 
goods was enough lower to - offset any apparent gain 
which our cash on hand might indicate. 

So, too, we might find that, instead of being able to 
pay off all of our bills, and have a comfortable bank bal- 
ance, we are short of the necessary amount ; and we may, 
therefore, start the new year with a weight upon us. Such 
a condition might bring discouragement, were it not for 
the possibilities of our inventory. We may have a thou- 
sand or two thousand and more invested in watches or 
diamonds, or perhaps our stock of material may be hun- 
dreds of dollars more than in previous years. In any 
case, whether we can show a gain or not, an inventory is 
necessary. Another thing, aside from the immediate re- 
sults of knowing just where we stand, is the finding of 
articles in quantities of which we never dreamed, and 
which perhaps we contemplated reordering. 

How should we go about taking an inventory? On 
watch cases and movements and goods of that kind, 
where there is an absolute value to them, it is com- 
paratively an easy matter to inventory them. On jewelry 
and kindred articles the net prices should prevail, and 
even from these a discount should be taken to allow for 
any depreciation. It is no advantage for a man to in- 
ventory his stock at a higher value than it actuary is. 

LOT a 



ioo EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

Whom does he deceive by marking down the highest 
price on everything? Not himself, because in his inmost 
mind he must confess that it should be considerably less. 
Not his creditors, because they do not know, unless he 
finds it necessary to make arrangements with them re- 
garding the payment of his debts. How often we read 
of nominal assets and real assets. In our papers of this 
week, in chronicling the assignment of a local jeweler, 
is found the statement of nominal assets, $17,000, and 
real assets of $9,000. Wherein does this difference lie? 
Of course, one may inventory accounts, which may or 
may not be collectible. This may account for some 
difference, but a good part must be in an imperfect in- 
ventory, or in not making allowance for depreciation 
each year. 

On diamonds, which are constantly advancing, market 
prices should prevail in making the inventory. In in- 
ventorying our fixtures, a certain per cent, should be 
deducted each year, as in time we will throw them out 
and replace with new, and if we have deducted each year 
from their cost it will not seem like parting with so 
much. Many inventory showcases year after year at 
the cost price, when, perhaps, they can buy later, more 
modern, and practical store furniture, for less money. 
Wherein does the satisfaction lie? A man might just as 
well hug ten one-dollar bills and say over and over to 
himself, "I've one hundred dollars in my pocket." When 
he comes to spend them he will notice the difference 
more pronounced. 

If a man is running behind each year in business, it 
is certainly worth while knowing it. There may be 
means and methods in practice in the store which may 
be more expensive than they are worth. Perhaps the 
store is doing more advertising than it should. Many 
things are brought out by an inventory which, if known, 
one can profit thereby. I have read of a young man who, 
taking a position with a large mercantile firm, found 
after a short time with the concern that the principal 
method practised by them to market their goods was an 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



ioi 



unnecessary form of expense, and that the profits of the 
concern could be materially increased by doing away with 
the method so long established. He hesitated about 
speaking to the head of the firm about it, and, when he 
did, found that the firm was very much attached to the 
method and it needed considerable argument upon his 
part to have them try the experiment of leaving it alone. 
Six months' time justified his position and made him the 
confidential man of the firm. 

Such things brought out by an inventory should be 
taken advantage of. The inventory should be exact to 
the cent, if possible, and we should be on the alert to 
obtain all the information therefrom which we can, aside 
from knowledge of our immediate possessions, and, hav- 
ing such knowledge, to govern oursehres accordingly. 




io2 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXV. 



A FEW THOUGHTS OF GENTLE SPRING. 

Signs of Spring, Even Spring Jewelry Announcements 
Please the People — Encourage, by Timely Window Dis- 
plays, the Army of Lookers That is Constantly on the 
Increase With Milder Weather. 

IN some sections of the country it will be taken as an 
attempt at humor to discourse on spring and its 
natural effects on the jewelry business. Yet, nev- 
ertheless, the time to talk spring jewelry business is in 
the spring. All people who are residents of the north- 
ern parts of our grand and glorious country have had an 
elegant sufficiency of cold, stormy weather by March I, 
and have grown weary in their strenuous efforts at shov- 
eling coal and snow. All these welcome any sign of 
spring, even a spring announcement in the newspapers, 
speaking of the fact that the balmy days of spring 
are near at hand, and that you have received a new 
line of spring goods which are now on exhibition at your 
store, and that while you are ready and willing to sell 
your customers what they want, whenever they are ready 
to buy, you are now ready and anxious to have the 
pleasure of showing the new things which you now have 
in stock. 

Encourage looking, in the spring as well as in the 
fall. At Christmas time people feel freer than at any 
other time of the year to enter the jewelry stores and see 
what is new and obtain information and prices regarding 
goods. They feel this way because all stores are extend- 
ing printed announcements of their desire to have people 
come, look, admire, and buy if they wish. As a matter 
of fact, the department stores sell many little knick-knacks 
which the jeweler might just as well have sold, because 
they encourage people to enter and look around. Each 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 103 

jeweler who advertises helps himself and his fellows, 
and is also benefited by their advertising. Advertise now 
for "lookers," and be prepared for them when they come. 
If people enter your store to look at goods, even if they 
do not buy a cent's worth, either then or later, they have 
done you a favor. It is worth money to have the reputa- 
tion of being a busy jewelry store. People standing in 
the store leaving work do not know that the two ladies 
next to them looking at diamond pendants are not going 
to buy. They will speak of» it at home, as will also the 
two "lookers." To make people familiar with your store 
should be your aim. 

We should look ahead, notwithstanding the Good 
Book's advice, "Take no thought of the morrow." But, 
besides looking ahead, we should hustle to make our 
dreams come true. Before beginning our spring cam- 
paign we should first get ready for it by cleaning up all 
through the store — walls, ceilings, fixtures and stock ; 
using a duster where necessary, a paint brush if it will 
serve our purpose better, and not be too saving in the 
matter of clean cards on the goods. Our show windows 
should show, to those not desirous of troubling us with- 
out purchasing, a general idea of the newest and most 
desirable goods which we have in stock. Other stores 
may have more kinds of goods in stock and a greater 
variety of each, but if they do not bring them properly to 
the attention of the purchasing public, and you do keep 
a fair selection of such goods in your show window, 
you can sell twice as many goods as the larger store 
which makes no effort to obtain the business. Of course, 
sales at this season are not as a general rule as large as 
at holiday time, because they are generally sold to the 
user direct, but there are numerous lines which we can 
feature to profit during the coming weeks. 

As the weather moderates and becomes warm enough, 
people feel like stopping to look in the show windows, 
and ladies begin to look around, not necessarily for new 
designs in jewelry, but for new designs in millinery and 
dress goods. Each, however, will gladly stop and glance 



104 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

in an attractively decorated jewelry store window, and 
involuntarily indulge in the mental choosing of certain 
goods shown therein. This, then, presents the jeweler 
with an opportunity for increasing his sales. He should 
devote extra time to the show window and have the sur- 
roundings as pretty as he can, and show therein articles 
of trifling expense, together with more expensive ones, 
which necessarily form a part of a lady's or a gentleman's 
toilette. 

Overcoats and jackets and furs are thrown off with 
the approach of spring, and, as they are discarded, little 
articles whose ownership has been put off become real 
necessities, as the old ones will not do any longer. So 
we will find the ladies interested in watch chains, neck 
chains, brooches, bracelets, waist sets, belt buckles, hat 
pins, stock pins, stick pins, bead neck chains, lockets and 
chains, and countless other little articles of nominal ex- 
pense which a lady will buy for herself if her husband, 
brother or best fellow overlooks them. 

The gentleman will be interested in a display of watch 
chains, ribbon and metal fobs, cuff buttons, necktie pins, 
rings, and so on. It is not my intention to make here- 
with a list of suitable articles for displays. Each jew- 
eler is the best judge of that himself. What the writer 
wishes to do is to impress upon all the importance of 
pushing these smaller articles at the season of the year 
when Nature puts on her spring attire and all the world 
joins with her in trying to eclipse all previous efforts. 
As each one feels the necessity of buying something new 
in the clothing or dress goods line, so each one also feels 
the need of something from one of our stocks. Easter 
this year comes so late that we cannot afford to await 
its coming before making a bid for spring business, but 
we must get after it now. 

A famous statesman once said, "the way to resume is 
to resume." In like manner, the way to do business is 
to do it. We should be not only willing to take in money 
and make bank deposits, but we should hustle to merit 
that success which we so much crave. Wishing, unac- 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



ioj 



companied, amounts to naught. The corner loafer 
wishes for money, because of its purchasing power, but 
he does not want to work to get it. What's worth hav- 
ing is worth working for, and if we wish to enjoy the 
pleasure and satisfaction of a fine spring business, we 
must now, to-day, get under way toward bringing about 
this condition of affairs. While each store has a certain 
run of trade, which naturally comes to it for all ordinary 
purchases, it is possible, by having worthy window dis- 
plays, to attract to our store a generous portion of this 
trade for articles moderate in price. 




io6 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXVI 



JUNE WEDDINGS AND GRADUATIONS. 

A Great Opportunity for the Hustling Retailer to Sell Suit- 
able Presents for the Various Parties Concerned — Some 
Valuable Hints to Jewelry Store Keepers for Getting 
Business. 

^\ T J HAT is so rare as a day in June!" The writer 

Y y thereof was probably thinking of the beautiful 

days of June, when we stand on the threshold 

of summer, and when everything in the vegetable king- 
dom, the fruit and shade trees, and the grass, are all in 
the height of their beauty and development. The jew- 
eler, like all others, appreciates the beautiful days of 
June; but, aside from the weather, he is interested in 
June for other more forcible reasons. From time im- 
memorial, June has been considered the month oi roses 
and of weddings. Roses bring delight to the thou- 
sands and millions of our people. The wedding of 
a relative or friend makes necessary the purchase 
of various tokens of esteem and friendship for the 
bride, and she in turn remembers her maid of honor and 
bridesmaids with little tokens ; whilst the groom must 
present his bride, his best man, and his ushers, with suit- 
able souvenirs of the joyous occasion. While many 
relatives and intimate friends (knowing the resources 
and needs of the young couple) may make presents of 
furniture and the like, the majority of guests invited to 
a wedding naturally turn to the jeweler for the present 
which they will buy, while the personal gifts to bride, 
bridesmaid, and ushers must come from the jeweler's. 

Now, then, Mr. Jeweler, what are you going to do 
about it? Are you going to sell these presents, or are 
you going to sit idly by, in contemplation of the beauties 
of nature, while someone else does the business? But, 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. io? 

you will argue that you do not know who is going to be 
married, or, if you did, you would not know who' would 
be invited to the weddings. True, you do not, but there 
is a way to go about this matter, and that is by general 
advertising. You know from past experience that there 
are about so many weddings each June, and, by keeping 
your advertising space filled with announcements in- 
forming the public of your ability to cater to their wants 
in the line of wedding gifts, and if your show window 
and salesmen make special efforts along that line, great 
good may be accomplished. 

What is worth having is worth asking for. If you 
want the trade on wedding gifts, let the people know of 
your desires, and your ability properly to serve them. It 
is a good idea to begin your advertising and your show 
window displaying of wedding gifts at an early date. 
Hundreds of" people know now that they are to be in- 
vited to a wedding, or perhaps to several of them. All 
of them are naturally on the lookout for a suitable pres- 
ent. Place in your show window the handsomest goods 
you have which are suitable for such gifts. Plainly 
marked prices should be on a few of the articles, to give 
an idea of how the prices run. 

To assist the salesmen, and also the customers, lists 
should be made of suitable presents. There is nothing 
like being prepared with suggestions. If we could only 
realize the power there is in suggestion. You are in 
business to sell goods, and it is you who should exercise 
your ingenuity and thinking powers to have at hand a 
number of articles to offer which will be suitable. Do 
not leave the customer to ask for everything which he 
or she may wish to look at. Wake up to your own in- 
terest. Be ready with an elegant dish, or whatever it 
may be, and be prepared to enthuoe a little as to its 
merits or desirability as a wedding gift. By cultivating 
this habit, you will be able to assist people who are al- 
ways looking for something odd or out of the ordinary. 
Some people wish to give things which no one else will. 



io8 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

It is decidedly to your interest to sell these odd articles 
rather than sell a set of teaspoons or a butter knife or 
sugar shell to every caller. You will save yourself 
many exchanges if you do this. 

At this season of the year let's hustle. It is a good 
deal easier to row with the current than against it. The 
current is with us, and we should work the harder now. 
When people are buying extra efforts should be made to 
talk convincingly and earnestly, because someone is go- 
ing to sell them a wedding present. The jeweler who 
is ready with suggestions, becomes to the looker for a 
suitable gift, a friend in need, and, if treated right, he is 
coming back again and again. Some people buy the 
same present each time, rather than bother too much. 
This is all right, but get them started buying in your 
store. 

To the person of a truly economical turn of mind, the 
jewelry store naturally suggests itself, for there can be 
obtained, at a cost of a couple of dollars, or as high as 
circumstances demand or permit, a present which can be 
enjoyed by the recipient during the years of her lifetime, 
and, when she is through with it, to be handed down as 
an heirloom to the succeeding generations. Each buyer 
of a gift who is a willing and a cheerful giver, wishes 
his or her gift to be one which is useful, ornamental, 
and lasting; useful, to an extent that will demand its 
frequent handling; ornamental, in that delight and pleas- 
ure will attend its receipt ; and lasting, so> that its owner- 
ship may extend through the many years. 

It seems unnecessary to enumerate suitable gifts for 
such occasions. Each storekeeper in fifteen minutes 
can make a fairly complete list of appropriate articles for 
such occasions. A 1 ist of this kind, printed in the news- 
papers, or on a large card in the window, will assist 
many in arriving at a conclusion to come in and look. 
People are often at their wits end to know what to buy, 
and a jeweler is performing an act of kindness when he 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 109 



offers practical suggestions, and he is the first to derive 
benefit from his "bread cast upon the waters." 

A newspaper ad. at this season of the year should go 
directly to the point. A heading, "That Wedding Gift. 
Let us help you out," to be followed with sensible advice 
or list jf practicable gifts, will generally bring satisfac- 
tory results. The gifts for bridesmaids and ushers 
should also be advertised. Your store, although the 
first in your own mind, may not be in others. You 
should strive to make it so if possible. 

The desire to acquire money and the many things it 
will purchase, is inherent with all; not so the willingness 
to earn it. Let us be of that number who, being desir- 
ous of success, are willing to earn it. People generally 
appreciate most what costs them most. As the wedding 
season and its accompanying gifts is the most important 
field at present for us to work, let us endeavor to sell 
wedding gifts. 

Then, too, in June, a new bunch of sweet girl gradu- 
ates, and young men, too, will step forth upon their sev- 
eral platforms to receive their diplomas, as the reward 
for their years of efforts. Whether these indicate the 
completion of a university, academy, or district school 
course, to the one who receives the sheepskin, and to 
their relatives and friends, it is an event in their lifetime, 
and as such in the past few years it has come to be con- 
sidered fitting of some kind of notice, which to the rela- 
tives and friends means coming up to the scratch with a 
gift of some kind. The jeweler should feel called upon 
to display his utmost efforts in endeavoring to turn the 
traffic for these goods toward his store. Anything in 
your stock is acceptable, although moderate priced arti- 
cles will prove the most popular with the majority of 
people. 

When we consider that June is the wedding month, 
and so, as a natural result, the wedding anniversary 
month, and as it is the graduation month, it seems to me 
that outiide of December, it offers greater results, for an 



no EVANS'S ESSA YS. 

equal expenditure of effort, than any other month of the 
year. 

Your show window should be productive of great 
good during the month. Change the goods often, but 
keep a general line of articles therein. This is not the 
time of year to run in specialty windows, i. e., windows 
in which nothing but watches will oe found, or nothing 
but chains. Such displays should be made at other sea- 
sons of the year. Selections from your different depart- 
ments should be placed in your window. Have every- 
thing appear new ; act pleased when customers ask to be 
shown articles from your wndow, even if it is a difficult 
matter to get them out. Be pleasant and tactful, cour- 
teous and confident. All these qualifications are neces- 
sary to make a success of salesmanship. Sometimes the 
right word spoken helps the customer over the line of 
indecision to the point of buying. 




EVANS'S ESSA YS. in 



CHAPTER XXVII. 



JEWELRY BUSINESS IN SUMMER TIME. 

Consideration From the Retailers' Standpoint— Keep Your 
Stores Just as Attractive as in Winter — Push the Sale- 
able Summer Articles to the Front — Exceptional -Oppor- 
tunities Made by Forethought and Hustling. 

IN the cold winter days, -when the thermometer is 
hugging the zero mark, we all sigh for the "good 
old summer time," about which we have all sung. 
But when the summer days arrive, we are overtaken by 
that tired or languid feeling, and we become lax in our 
business methods, and allow our business to drift along, 
furnishing its own current. Because of this fact, we 
find jewelers generally setting aside July and August as 
the dull months, and making no effort to change the con- 
ditions. Except for one's own personal feelings, how- 
ever, there is no reason why business should be so much 
slower during those two months than during the other 
months of the year. True, people are taking their an- 
nual vacations, which takes them from the city, and also 
takes money in large quantities, of which the jeweler 
might otherwise get a share. 

But that is no reason why we should pass into a coma- 
tose condition on this account, from which we awake in 
the fall, and make lightning-like efforts to regain lost 
ground. It makes no difference what the natural con- 
ditions are, they can be changed by a little exertion. 

People who are going away for visits need the services 
of the jeweler in one way or another. Their watches 
perhaps, need overhauling and putting in proper order, 
before leaving the city. Or, perhaps, their diamonds 
need resetting; also their other jewelry need repairs of 
different sorts. Then, again, the offer can be made to 
make such repairs as may be necessary, and also to keep 



ii2 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

the articles in your safe ready for them upon their return 
from their outings, if not needed on the vacation trip. 
These suggestions made through your newspaper adver- 
tising, will appeal to many, some of whom have never 
traded with you before. 

The summer time is the natural time to boom the re- 
pairing end of our business; why? because we can af- 
ford to use our advertising space and our window space, 
to push this branch of our business, which would seem a 
waste of valuable space at the busier seasons of the year. 

Advertisements soliciting repairing should be written 
clearly and concisely; convincing in statement, and sim- 
ple in language. All technical terms should be omitted; 
readers, however, should be made to appreciate that you 
are perfectly familiar with the repairing department of 
your business. 

Then again your window can be used for advertising 
your repairing department at this season of the year, 
when the same use of it at other seasons would be a 
waste of valuable space. Without its repair departments 
many a store could not exist. The proper development 
of the repairing departments means a considerable 
growth in the selling end of the business. Therefore, 
let us have a "repairing department window;" or more 
than one if possible. 

Arrange material of different kinds in groups through 
the window. Quite an interesting group can be made 
of jewelry findings, such as bars, swivels, toggles, but- 
ton backs, pendant bows, and so on. Watch material, 
such as mainsprings, crowns and stems, and similar ma- 
terial will interest many to stop and look in your win- 
dow. The more repairing you do, the more people you 
meet; and the more possible chances are yours for mak- 
ing a sale either then or later. 

The summer months have always been good months 
for the repairing end of the business ; this illustrates the 
fact that there are a great many people left in town, not- 
withstanding the many who are enjoying their vacations. 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 113 

Vacations make necessary the purchase of many little 
accessories, and, while most of these are not from the 
realms of the jeweler, still there are many little things 
which may be bought from us, if we but remind our 
friends and customers of the many little articles of vari- 
ous kinds which we have for sale, which would make 
their outing more enjoyable if they possessed them. 
Take, for instance, field-glasses. How often we hear 
people speaking with regret (while viewing some more 
fortunate personage looking through his field-glasses from 
a mountain height, or other vantage point,), and wishing 
that among their other purchases they had included field 
glasses. This same man will take a vacation another 
year and perhaps will again leave without his field- 
glasses unless you remind him through your window, 
and your advertisements, of the satisfaction and delight 
which follow the purchase of a first-class article of this 
kind. 

That is, however, but the beginning of the story. 
Your stock will furnish you many a suggestion of the 
kind of goods to bring forward to stimulate sales. Many 
articles of your stock are distinctly summer goods; such 
as belt buckles, sash pins, waist sets, fobs, for both men 
and women; and, besides these, there are stick pins, cuff 
buttons, brooches, silver articles and fountain pens. All 
these will find ready sale if kept well at the front. 

Stick pins and cuff buttons of moderate price will meet 
with the approval of all the young men and women who 
go on vacation trips. 

A good fountain pen advertisement will often stimu- 
late the sale of many of these commodities, to the man 
or woman who is going away for the summer, as well 
as to those who will spend the summer in town. Women 
as well as men are becoming addicted to the fountain 
pen habit, and you might as well sell your share of them. 

To my mind, the summer presents exceptional oppor- 
tunities to the man who will hustle. If you allow your- 
self to sleep through the warm weather, if you let your 



ii4 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 



windows become dirty and flyspecked, if you do not 
change your display with your accustomed regularity 
and allow the goods to become tarnished and cards to 
become dusty, if you act as though you did not expect 
to do business, then, indeed, will you find the summer 
months to be dull ones. On the other hand, if you keep 
things going by working a little harder, and taking your 
vacation outside of the store and not in it, and keep 
everything clean and fresh looking, then you have my 
word for it you'll not find the summer dull. 

By hustling you'll keep yourself in trim for the fall; 
and, besides, you will have no time to think about slow 
business. Everything comes to him who hustles. So, 
"let us all be be up und doing." 




EVANS'S ESS A YS. 115 



CHAPTER XXVIII. 



THE VACATION SEASON. 

Jewelers Cannot Afford to Not Participate in it — It is Bet- 
ter for Business and Necessary to Your Health — There 
are Various Ways — So Take One. 

f f A LL aboard for the lakes and mountains !" If 
jr\ we read the advertising pages of any of the 
current numbers of the magazines we will 
find that, according to the railroad advertising, the proper 
thing to do at this season of the year is to take a vaca- 
tion. In the last ten years the vacation habit has devel- 
oped to a great extent. Previous to that time there were 
but few people who took, each year, a vacation from 
their work. Ministers and others in similar pursuits 
seemed to feel the need of relaxation and change, but the 
storekeeper, hardest worked of all men, did not see his 
way clear to give himself the much needed vacation. To- 
day all this has been changed; so that he who denies 
himself of at least a few days' absence from business is in 
the minority decidedly. Men have come to a realization 
of the fact that the clear head and refreshed body can ac- 
complish much more than the tired body and head, which 
has to constantly drive itself to keep agoing. Unless 
some definite plans are formulated, however, the summer 
may slip away before you arrive at the starting point. 

Many put off such matters till they can get away better. 
Their business has been so rushing that they do not see 
how they can be spared. If such has been their good 
fortune they need and should take a vacation. Many 
others, perhaps, have undergone a slow season, and they 
oftentimes do not feel that they can stand the necessary 
expense to take a vacation. Nevertheless, the latter men- 
tioned should take one. Your powers of salesmanship, 
apparently diminished, will be reinforced by your outing. 
Whether business has been good or bad, you need a rest, 



116 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

and need to get away from your store. Even machinery 
needs rest, and the human machine more than all. Let 
us take a glance around us, and we will notice that when 
a man is forced to be absent from his business because 
of sickness, that his business will proceed as before. Or, 
perhaps, a doctor prescribes a trip involving expense and 
absence from business, and, because one is thoroughly 
scared, thinking of possible results, he concedes the doc- 
tor's advice to be sound and acquiesces. Then why 
should we wait to take a vacation until we are in such 
shape that we cannot enjoy it? Why not form the habit 
of taking a week or two each summer, as the years come 
and go, to enjoy a much needed rest? 

If we will notice how other businesses figure so that 
each has a suitable vacation each year, it will impress us 
more and more with the idea that there is good sense in 
so doing. A man will not allow his help to> all have a 
week or two off each year, at his expense, unless he knows 
that, because of the reinforcement to the physical system, 
they are better enabled to carry out the work which he 
employs them to do. We find filling positions in banks, 
college boys home on vacations, who are given these posi- 
tions during the vacation season for the purpose of filling 
the places of those absent. A jeweler need not hire in 
any additional help for the purpose, however. But, by 
taking vacations one at a time, and of moderate length, 
those remaining behind can keep up the work, because 
there is not such a rush at this season of the year. 

Surely a jeweler needs a vacation if any man does. He 
works from early morning till late in the evening, many 
working every night in the week till nine o'clock. He 
goes* from home to< the store and from the store to his 
home. He gradually grows narrow and "rutty/' He 
needs to get away from himself. He should get out and 
see the world ; get away from the idea that the little side 
street store which he conducts is the centre of the uni- 
verse. He should get out into the open and get acquaint- 
ed with the beauties and glories of nature, and come to a 
realizing sense of the fact that he is a man, with all the 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 117 

powers of a man, and that his little store can be run with- 
out him for a week. He can then come back renewed in 
strength, and quickly regain any lost ground because of 
his absence. 

One week will never ruin your business, particularly 
when you have trustworthy clerks to leave in charge. A 
vacation rests one, but it also does more than that. It 
naturally fills one with new ideas and new thoughts. 
Away from your store you look at things differently and 
can formulate plans for fall and winter work. Then 
again, while away you meet people of intelligence, and 
subjects of different kinds will be informally discussed, 
and unconsciously you absorb wisdom, the benefits of 
which will become later apparent. 

Of course, the best kind of rest is a complete change. 
Therefore we find country people hastening to the city 
to spend a little time, and more money, and, while doubt- 
less returning home wearied, they are nevertheless re- 
freshed from their outing. But the city man wants to 
get out of town, and he either arranges a visit to friends 
or relatives in suburban districts, or catches the train or 
boat for a lake or mountain resort. Many combine busi- 
ness with pleasure, those journeying to the great buying 
centres, and, finding out what is new, buy goods for the 
fall. They usually vary these proceedings by an occa- 
sional side trip to resorts of pleasure, which are generally 
near at hand. Or, perhaps, the vacation may be taken in 
two sections, the first for business, and a few davs follow- 
ing devoted entirely to resting and forgetting. 

After it is all over, with what delight we start for home ! 
After all, we are happy that we have to work for a living 
and can enjoy the excitement of business life. We return 
from vacations with renewed enthusiasm and face the 
little discouragements and the trifling complaints which 
often vex us, without dismay. Work is a pleasure. We 
find that there is a homelike feeling about our store and 
that, as compared with others, it is a pretty fair place, 
after all. Perhaps some changes may have suggested 
themselves from seeing how others do things, or have 



n8 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 



things arranged. In any case, our time has been well 
spent. Therefore, let's resolve that we will have a vaca- 
tion and enjoy it to its full. People respect you more and 
you will find it will be a good advertisement for you to 
be away a week. Many opticians and others of that class 
take a vacation, even when they have to lock up to do it. 
So, Mr. Jeweler, it's up to you, and you know your duty. 
So before the traveling man gets after you, with talk 
about holiday goods, get. away and fill your lungs with 
ozone, and you will be better fitted to face the duties of 
the coming seasons. 




EVANS'S ESSAYS. 119 



CHAPTER XXIX. 



FALL "OPENING DAYS." 

Dress up for the Occasion — Advertise the Event Properly — 
Get the People to Come In — Particularly the Ladies — 
Then is the Oportunity for You to Do the Rest. 

IN the early fall why not have an opening day? 
While the millinery stores are the leaders in this- 
method of advertising, the department and cloth- 
ing stores have fallen in line evidencing their belief that 
the opening day is a good means to employ to advertise 
their stores. 

The reasons for holding such an event are familiar to 
all, although the benefits are perhaps not so plainly to be 
seen. That there are such, none will gainsay, however. 
The jewelry trade has always been very conservative, 
to say the least, regarding even the tried and true meth- 
ods of advertising. As, witness the few jewelers who 
advertise at any time o<f the year except during the 
Christmas holidays. It is true that none of us have any 
money to waste, but if we are willing to lay in the stock 
which we do during the fall, on the expectation of sell- 
ing it for holiday gifts, we should appropriate a gener- 
ous amount to spend in letting the public know about 
that fact. 

But whether or not we use newspaper space regularly, 
or whether or not we issue booklets, catalogues, etc., 
there is a method which will repay us well for the labor 
and time expended. The idea in mind is the adopting of 
the opening day as a regular adjunct of our fall business. 
Whatever stock we carry during the rest of the year, we 
always increase the same materially during the fall in 
anticipation of the demand which will be forthcoming. 
These goods are generally in stock for several weeks at 
least before the demand for them begins, or even the 



120 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



lookers get out. Why, then, will it not pay the jeweler 
to set aside one or two days in which he will conduct a 
jewelry show? Days when people will feel free to come 
in and look to their heart's content, stay as long as they 
wish, and leave at their own convenience. Under such 
conditions people will visit your store who have never 
done so before, and who would not under ordinary con- 
ditions venture in. Every one have stores where 
they are in the habit of trading, and will not bother an- 
other tradesman unless they have some notion of buying. 
Such people, however, accept gladly an invitation ex- 
tended to call on an opening day, as people have generally 
come to know what these occasions mean, and they 
realize that no obligation exists for them to spend a cent 
at such a time. Jewelers should remember that looking 
comes before buying, and should therefore be glad to 
have people come and look, because that is the first step 
toward buying. The more lookers you have, the more 
buyers you will have. Having demonstrated the value 
of "opening days," let us consider the way to go at it to 
make such an affair a success. 

First of all, we must clean up our store. Our store 
must be put in " spic and span" shape. If the outside 
needs painting, have it done. See that your walls and 
ceilings are in good condition. Apply paint and elbow 
grease wherever necessary. After we have put the store 
itself into good shape, we must go over our show cases 
and see that the glass is thoroughly cleaned inside and 
out. Then we must go over our stock. Everything 
which is not new should be looked over and cleaned if 
necessary, then retagged or recarded ; boxed goods should 
be dusted and arranged; old boxes changed for new, 
and so on. While these undertakings are under way 
the preliminary arrangements should be gone through 
with. A well-worded letter explaining your intention to 
hereafter conduct opening days, at which time you intend 
to show the latest designs in watches, rings, jewelry, 
silver novelties, etc., and when it will be a pleasure to you 
to have the public in general, and the ones addressed in 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 121 

particular, visit your store, inspect the latest creations 
in the jewelry world, price goods, ask questions, and feel 
that they are perfectly at home; when no effort will be 
made to effect sales, but only to make customers feel 
that they have an interest in that particular jewelry store, 
and that you wish them to be informed of your prepara- 
tions for the fall trade. 

The store's windows should be trimmed extra fine, 
because of the event. A few palms or potted plants, set 
in appropriate places in the window and through the 
store will help to give the store a handsome and attract- 
ive appearance. While it is a good idea to use flowers, 
we should remember that we are showing jewelry, and 
not have so many plants around that it will present the 
appearance of being a flower show. 

In many stores souvenirs are given away on such occa- 
sions. If it is desired to give away something in this 
nature, flowers make an acceptable gift, cost but little, 
and create a favorable impression. 

Allow people to look around for themselves, but have 
your clerks at hand ready to show them goods if they 
wish. Do not attempt to do any repair work during 
the opening days. Although you will not try to sell 
goods, there will be some people present who are pre- 
pared to buy if they see things to their liking. A sign 
should be displayed to the effect that goods selected will 
be laid aside, to be called for later. In this way you 
may gain immediate results from your expenditure of 
time and money. Do not, however, feel dissatisfied if 
there is no immediate result forthcoming. Be patient. 
Your advertising, though effective, does not sell your 
goods. It merely brings the people to your store. That 
is all you can ask of an "ad." Your opportunity and 
work commences right there. So, too, with an opening 
day. If you can bring people into your store to look, 
it is your business to so impress them with your store and 
stock that later, when the buying season arrives, your 
store will be the one which they will head for when they 
start out to do their trading. 



122 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER XXiX. 



HANDLING THE HOLIDAY RUSH. 

The Retail Jeweler Should Begin in November to Stir up 
His Customers and Induce Them to Purchase Their 
Christmas Presents Early. 

ABOUT the first day of July, and often earlier, the 
retailer begins to have impressed upon him the 
fact that "Christmas is coming," and that he 

must prepare for it by buying in a suitable amount of 
stock, so that he will be able to fill his customer's require- 
ments. All this is certainly very proper and commend- 
able, but why does not the retailer adopt some of the 
wholesaler's methods for obtaining business. True, he 
cannot very well make a personal call upon his custom- 
ers and solicit orders, but he can certainly stimulate, trade 
and do business earlier than usual. 

The jobber shows his good sense in selling holiday 
goods in the early fall, Lhus making sure of doing the 
business. What does the jeweler do after making his 
purchases ? He marks them and puts them in stock, and 
waits patiently until the month of December arrives be- 
fore he expects to sell them. When the holiday rush 
starts he is busy, and so are all the other stores of differ- 
ent kinds. He can only handle so many customers, and 
is satisfied if he has a fair trade. Why is it necessary to 
wait until the last two> weeks to sell Christmas goods? 
Begin speaking about it early to customers and through 
our advertising. People generally put off thoughts of 
Christmas until after Thanksgiving, believing that that 
is plenty early to begin shopping. Why not make the 
effort to turn these shoppers, when they come, into cus- 
tomers before they go? People who carry money with 
them often buy when they are not really thinking of do- 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 123 

ing so, if they happen to see something nice and attract- 
ive at a reasonable price and the clerk exerts himself to 
satisfy them. We should talk up the fact that a better 
selection can be had now than later; that engraving on 
articles can be better done now than later; that watches 
selected can be run and regulated, thus giving better sat- 
isfaction when taken ; that goods, especially silver goods, 
which it is desired to match, must be ordered early, so 
that no disappointment will ensue, and so on. There is 
no reason under the sun why all the retail jewelry busi- 
ness should be crowded into the ten days just previous to 
Christmas day. 

Some customers must necessarily wait until late on 
account of lack of funds, many people taking their last 
two weeks' pay to buy Christmas presents. Most of a 
jeweler's customers are more provident than that, how- 
ever, and can buy an article one week just as well as the 
next. It is next to impossible to add on any considerable 
amount to the gross receipts of the last few days before 
Christmas, but it is possible to add on hundreds of dol- 
lars to the receipts of the first two weeks of December, 
by a proper application of the various means we have at 
hand for making sales. While not advocating the boring 
of customers, the writer believes that we are all of us 
too apt to take "no" for an answer, too easily. Our 
salesmanship is not shown by merely doing up a package 
and taking the money from a customer who has asked 
for certain kinds of goods, and, seeing just what he 
wanted, has selected it and paid for it. We should be 
argumentative, enthusiastic and forceful. 

In handling the holiday rush, certain preliminary ar- 
rangements should be made, which will facilitate matters 
as much as possible. We should have articles arranged 
so that they are handy to show, and keep in order. The 
boxes for articles should be placed where they can easily 
be found. One writer in a trade journal advocates an 
arrangement for boxes for odd shaped articles, which 
struck me as a very good one. Of course all jewelers 



124 EVANS'S ESSAYS 

have their regular boxes for rings, napkin rings, thim- 
bles, cups, and so on, but there are articles of odd shapes 
which come in boxes from the factory, and the idea of 
this writer was to have an arrangement on the shelves 
numbered one, two, three and so on, and place a number 
on the tag of the article accordingly, and place the box 
in its proper place. Then, when the sale is made, in- 
stead of grabbing the first box which comes fiandy, and 
using up the larger boxes for the smaller articles and 
having at the last a lot of articles without boxes, we take 
the one intended for it. This saves time and trouble. 

Opera glass cases should all be marked with the ligne 
size and the name of the maker, as n ligne Le Maire. 
This will obviate the wasting of valuable time and the 
giving out of wrong cases, and the embarassing fact of 
being unable to fit a case to a glass after making the sale. 
Different sizes of paper on rolls, and a number of balls 
of twine scattered at convenient places through the store, 
all go to make the handling of the holiday rush compara- 
tively easy. Early buying is a great help to the jeweler 
and he should encourage it to the best of his ability. The 
matter of engraving and the giving of a case are but su- 
perfluous accessories to a gift, but sentiment demands the 
first and pride the last. Customers who wish to be sure 
of both the engraving and a case, are often brought to 
the point of making a decision to buy by the promise that 
they will be guaranteed a first class job of engraving and 
the case which they select. Although the engraving of 
an article is seldom seen, and the case hardly ever used, 
yet they play a part not the least important in influencing 
sales. The jeweler should encourage the sentiment of 
gift giving, and should assist in every way to develop it. 
Our business is one consisting largely of luxuries, and 
if only the absolute necessities we have to sell were 
bought, we would fare poorly indeed. Within every one 
is that inborn desire to purchase either for their own 
adornment or of their loved ones, jewels of varying cost, 
according to their circumstances. Encourage it. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 125 



CHAPTER XXXI. 



THE SHOW WINDOW DURING DECEMBER. 

How it Can Act as a Silent Yet Effective Salesman — Direc- 
tions for Display so as to Make it Have the Best Possi- 
ble Effect. 

WHILE our efforts should be constant to have a 
nice display of goods in our windows at all 
seasons of the year, the Christmas time offers 
the most immediate returns from the expenditure of time, 
money and effort. While each store will have its win- 
dows dressed somewhat similar, and yet entirely differ- 
ent, the general arrangement and effects are the same. 
The results depend more on the ability of the decorator. 
Many a* window decorator can arrange an elaborate dis- 
ply of goods, which, while pleasing to the eye, will not 
sell a dollar's worth of goods as the direct results of that 
display. The show window during December, while 
serving the same purposes that it does during the other 
months in the year, acts also as a silent salesman of 
goods. If descriptions of articles are written on cards 
with the prices, unnecessary conversation is eliminated* 
The supply houses furnish plain white cards on 
which rings may be mounted, the card being so cut 
that it forms an easel support for the ring. On a card 
of this character, suppose you place a ring containing 
rubies and pearls. There is plenty of room to annex the 
words, "three genuine rubies, and two genuine whole 
pearls, price $10." Other rings similarly displayed, and 
similarly described, answer the unasked questions of the 
customer gazing through the window, and before he en- 
ters your store, he perhaps has made his selection, or if 
not has formed an idea of the way the prices run for the 
different kinds of goods. Many people advocate the dis- 
playing of goods without price cards, on the theory that 



126 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



curiosity aroused, the customers will come inside for par- 
ticulars, thereby giving the jeweler opportunity to press 
his arguments, and perhaps complete the sale. Very 
true, but how about the customer who is not acquainted, 
and who feels that he is intruding on your time when he 
enters to make inquiries only? There will be no argu- 
ment with him, because he will look until he sees what 
he wants in a window with the price plainly marked. 

During the early part of the month, special window 
for special people can be made with good results. Sug- 
gestions to the young man of suitable gifts for the young 
lady, and vice versa; presents for the wife, husband, 
mother and father; for the boy and girl and for the baby, 
all can be shown in the window at different times, it 
will surprise you how many articles you will find in your 
stock which will make suitable presents for the various 
individuals. Doubtless many of the articles will be re- 
peated in the different windows. For the married wo- 
man, a display of silverware, cut glass and clocks, to- 
gether with some of the smaller articles of womanly dec- 
oration, will offer suggestions to the husband which he 
will appreciate, and he will, by purchasing, give you the 
benefits of reciprocity. The young man will appreciate 
the gift of a shaving or smoking set, a military set, a 
cloth brush, and so on; while for the young lady, mani- 
cure sets, toilet sets, necklaces and lockets, brooches and 
pendant, bracelets and so on, together with the regular 
lines, afford abundant opportunity for a selection. For 
the baby, children's knife, fork and spoon, a cup, a nap- 
kin ring, a pin set,, a neck chain and heart, a bracelet, a 
rattle, and so on. For other ages and classes, articles 
will suggest themselves as you glance over your stock. 
The jeweler, although handling but a single line, and of- 
ten feeling that his line is decidedly limited, will find by 
studying his stock that he has quite a variety to select 
from. 

Displays of all of a single line should be made to give 
the public an idea of the extent and variety of your stock. 
Your watch stock can be laid in the trays, or spread out 
in designs through the window. The rings should also 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 127 

'be shown at one time, giving a complete idea of the num- 
ber and styles from which to select. Put all your toilet 
and manicure sets in the window on one day, and so on 
through your stock. Window displays can be made at 
different prices. Thus taking everything you can find in 
•your stock which you can afford to sell for a dollar, and, 
after a careful arrangement of them in the window, place 
a card over them to the effect that $1 buys any single 
article in the window." People will stand outside select- 
ing presents, and very often a half-dozen articles will be 
sold to one customer, with hardly a moment's conversa- 
tion. A five dollar window display will be more appro- 
priate, and the gifts at this price which the jeweler can 
provide are almost innumerable. Then, too, window dis- 
plays may be made of goods of various prices, yet all of 
them below $10, and on such a display the fact that such 
is the case, should be plainly stated. 

Your window, while it takes considerable time and 
thought to devise a pretty display, repays you fourfold 
for all the time it takes, by assisting you in handling your 
trade. It should not be necessary for every inquirer to 
enter your store, to learn how the prices run on differ- 
ent lines of goods. Your window can do a great deal of 
explaining relative to the qualities and prices, which will 
save you the expenditure of valuable breath. A card 
placed in the window informing the trade that goods se- 
lected will be laid aside for future delivery, upon the 
payment of a cash deposit as evidence of good faith, will 
bring good results. 

While it is necessary perhaps to show a variety of 
goods in every display, much time can be saved by hav- 
ing all of any one class of goods, wherever practicable, 
in the window at the same time. This will save rushing 
about the store in search of goods, passing by some, and 
perhaps losing the sale, because we cannot find the arti- 
cle which they have looked at before. Although this is not 
the haymaking season, we must all "make hay while the 
sun shines," and to do this we must hustle, and we should 
devote a great part of that hustling to decorating the 
window. 



128 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXXII. 



HELPING THE PURCHASER AT CHRISTMAS. 

How to Handle the Customer Who Wants to Buy a Suitable 
Present, But Who is Entirely Devoid of Ideas — Keep 
"a Little List" Where it Can be Easily Referred to. 

ALL jewelers particularly, and storekeepers gener- 
ally, are cognizant of the fact that however else 
our customers may foe divided, there are two 

great classes into which all may be divided. The first 
class consists of those who 1 have in mind some definite 
article about which they wish to inquire as to qualities 
and prices, which they wish to see, and which they will 
buy then or later if they are satisfied. The second class 
is made up in large part of those who have a dozen 
things in mind which they wish to look at and who have 
no particular leaning towards any one of them. The 
balance of this class are those who are devoid of the 
slightest idea as to what they want, or how much they 
want to pay. The first class is comparatively easy to 
handle. They call for certain goods, and the dealer 
shows them what they ask for, and naturally tries to sell 
them what they want. With such customers it is gener- 
ally but the work of a few minutes either to sell them or 
bid them good morning. They know what they want, 
and if you have it not, or the price does not suit, they can 
tell you so, and either you find for them what they want, 
or inform them that you are sorry, but you have not 
what they wish in stock. Which ever way it turns out, 
such customers are not hard to handle. 

(It is the second class which takes the jeweler's time 
or that of his clerks, which is just the same. One such 
customer at holiday time can take one clerk's time while 
his fellow clerk next to him had waited on a dozen. It 
is not necessarily the man who handles a customer the 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 129 

quickest who enters the largest sales. Indeed, it is 
oftener the other way. The clerk who does not care, or 
has not his employer's interests at heart, by showing to 
the customer his disinterestedness, may succeed in get- 
ting rid of him, but that is not the idea. We should 
strive to so serve each customer that whether or not we 
make a sale we have made a friendly feeling for the store 
which will result in future calls and doubtless future sales. 
When a customer enters with some definite article in 
mind and which we have in stock, it is simplicity itself 
to know how to wait on the customer. With a good se- 
lection of the required goods, it is merely a question of 
satisfying the customer with a suitable style at the right 
price. But if the same person calls for something of 
which we do not keep a stock, is it good business to in- 
form the customer bluntly of the fact, and at the same 
time ask him to call again when he is in need of some- 
thing in our line? Why not ask the customer if (as is 
generally the case at holiday time) it is a question of 
giving a present, and if they reply affirmatively, be ready 
with suggestions of other suitable gifts for the lady or 
gentleman. Perhaps the article inquired for has not 
been definitely or finally decided upon. Perhaps that 
article was the only one of which he or she could think 
of for the person. Perhaps there are dozens of other 
articles, all contained within the four walls of the jew- 
eler's store, which would each make acceptable gifts for 
the person in question, and which would satisfy the de- 
mands of the customer both as to design and price. This, 
then, is the clerk's opportunity and his duty to his em- 
ployer to be ready with suggestions. 

Study your stock. Become familiar with its contents. 
If possible, know every watch case, ring, and cuff button 
personally, have the designs even burnt in your mind, so 
that you will not be compelled to stare blankly at a cus- 
tomer when an inquiry is made about some particular 
design of article which has perhaps been shown in your 
own window. 



130 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

There are lots of ways by which we can facilitate the 
handling of customers, and one of them is the making of 
alphabetical lists of appropriate articles for gifts for dif- 
ferent classes of people. Thus go through your stock 
and notice what you have that will make a lady a Christ- 
mas gift, jotting it down as you go, and when you have 
completed your list notice how many articles there are 
contained in it which you have never before suggested to 
anyone as being suitable for a lady's gift. Then make a 
list of presents for the gentlemen, and then one for the 
household and one for the little folks. Then you will 
be prepared. Study the list so that it will not be neces- 
sary to refer to it every time a caller enters the store, 
but have it handy to refer to if necessary. There are 
some articles in a jeweler's store which he seems to hang 
on to, and which he describes to the traveling man as 
"stickers." They are such because of the fault of the 
jeweler. They are not staples to the same degree that 
watches, chains, rings, cuff buttons, scarf pins, and so on, 
are. Perhaps they more properly belong to the novelty 
department. They are articles which are perhaps seldom 
called for, but for which a ready sale can be found if 
they are suggested to a customer. 

So many people are possessed of very nearly everything 
in the jeweler's regular line that a clerk suggesting arti- 
cles without a complete list is "floored" completely after 
suggesting a half-dozen articles by the remark, "She has 
one." With a list, he is not through until he has gone 
through fifty or more articles and shown something. 
With such a list at hand, a customer is given the opinion 
that your store carries about everything to be found in a 
jewelry store, and that if it can be found anywhere you 
have it. People with nothing particular in mind will find 
suggested there an article which will do for what they 
want. Many presents are given with the idea of giving 
something and nothing else. The recipient may have no 
particular need of the article, but that matters not to the 
giver. The ability to suggest novelties of different kinds 
will be found to be worth money during the holiday rush, 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 131 

when if "time is money" at any particular season, it is 
then. Endeavor to handle your customers, not hurriedly, 
but expeditiously. Treat each one as though you were 
willing to spend an indefinite time with them, but have all 
possible ways and means devised to handle them in the 
least possible time. Each jeweler knows his own busi- 
ness best, and can devise many ways and means to facili- 
tate the handling of trade. 

Every one likes to see a jeweler or other business man 
in love with his work and enthusiastic over his business. 
Naturally, such men, who are optimistic in their views, 
and, while expecting to see good business, yet are willing 
to work for it, see greater results than the man of pes- 
simistic views, who, looking on the dark side of things 
generally, is satisfied to sit down, and, while assuring 
his friends that business is no good, does nothing by 
working or talking to change the conditions of things. 

Business can never be measured by a day, week or 
month. Local conditions may change general prosperity 
into general depression, and vice versa. No matter what 
the conditions of your city, as to how things are running, 
whether full time or not, the Christmas presents must 
be bought. So, as Christmas comes but once a year, 
we should have our store reflect the true Christmas 
spirit, and on the day before Christmas wish each cus- 
tomer a hearty "Merry Christmas" and have them leave 
in a happy mood — happy that their Christmas presents 
are bought, and happy that they came from Blank's store. 

Do not try to slight your relatives and friends at 
Christmas time. You cannot afford to let the gift-giving 
spirit die out. Keep it up, as you are the gainer thereby. 
Although many things would be bought by people them- 
selves, were the custom of Christmas gift-giving obsolete, 
expensive articles would be practically dead stock. People 
invariably buy better things to give away than for their 
own use. 



132 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER XXXIII. 



PREVENTING THEFTS AT CHRISTMAS TIME. 

Some Tricks of the Light-Fingered Gentry Which the Retail 
Jeweler is up Against and How Best to Prevent Their 
Success — Various Methods to Keep People Honest. 

THE holiday gift buying season offers the greatest 
opportunities for people of dishonest inclinations 
to practice their cleverly planned tricks on the 
unsuspecting clerk, who is busy showing goods and de- 
scribing their many good qualities, and the reasonable- 
ness of the prices. It is an old saying that two heads are 
better than one, and when two or more dishonest per- 
sons, with a definite object in view, enter a store and 
engage the attention of a clerk, who is entirely dis- 
armed of suspicion by their looks and manner, it 
is ten chances to one that the thief or thieves will be 
successful. But the clerks, who may be at the time dis- 
engaged, owe a duty to themselves, their employer, and 
their fellows, to watch, and notice substitution of rings, 
and other small tricks, and be at hand to get goods for 
which there may be a call, and which would necessitate a 
trip to another part of the store, on the part of the clerk 
who is waiting on the customers. True, most tricks are 
worked when all are engaged, but we have all seen a half- 
dozen clerks talking in the rear of a store, while one is 
handling trade in the front. At holiday time we must 
keep our eyes open more than at any other season of the 
year, because the stock changes so rapidly that it is com- 
paratively hard to keep track of it, and to remember when 
noticing that a particular style ring or brooch is missing, 
whether it has been sold or stolen. 

The spaces in all the ring trays, watch trays, locket and 
charm trays, should always be filled, either with articles, 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 133 

or if after a heavy sale there must necessarily be empty 
spaces, have some dummies to fill in all the spaces, or in- 
dicate where the vacancies should begin. 

Our scarf pins can be arranged so that they will keep 
in order better, and with less likelihood of theft, by hav- 
ing the pin part of each scarf pin go through and down 
the back of the card, which will allow for a strip of card- 
board being run through the whole line, making them 
one continuous card. 

Another method often practiced is for a caller to pick 
the rings out of the trays and lay them down one at a 
time in front of the trays, and, after about a dozen or so 
are there, say that there is nothing to-day, and walk out, 
and, as the spaces from which the rings were taken, are 
scattered throughout the trays, it takes the clerk perhaps 
two or three minutes to place them back where they be- 
long, and then, or later, he will find that one of the rings, 
or perhaps two were not put back. 

Then young girls have practiced this trick lately. She 
will lay out on the case, as in the preceding paragraph, 
perhaps fifteen or twenty rings, and then will apparently 
select one for later purchase, and at the same time ask 
the jeweler if he will lay that one aside for her if she pays 
him a quarter. Naturally, he will do so, and, taking the 
ring which she selects and her money, will make a note 
of it on an envelope, together with her name, which will 
be fictitious. Then she will leave, and take with her one 
or more rings. This trick, may seem very slow, and one 
at which you would not be caught, but it has been suc- 
cessfully worked recently in Utica. The possibilities 
of working this trick may be obviated by following the 
plan of replacing the rings in their respective places as 
the customer lays them down. Once in a while, a cus- 
tomer will object to this, but such objections seldom come 
from persons of honest intentions, and in any case can 
generally be met with the remark that they will scratch the 
case, or may be brushed onto the floor with their sleeve 
or something like that. Never let any one think that 



134 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

you suspect them of dishonesty, as many people who will 
steal, if given the opportunity, will buy what they want 
if they cannot get it otherwise. 

Many people also, who are of good reputation, will if 
given the opportunity, take something without paying for 
it. It is because of this fact that we must keep our eyes 
open. A brooch, scarf pin, or cuff button on a card, may 
easily be held in the same hand with a pocketbook, but 
under it, and, while a customer may indicate with the 
right hand the particular object of their desires, they 
may have firmly grasped in their left the one selected. 
In showing watches it is a good idea to show the same 
number each time, say a dozen. It is not necessary to 
lay out forty or fifty watches for a customer to select one. 
If the first dozen contains nothing suitable, replace them 
in the case, and get out others. The same rule should 
be made about showing rings. Show a couple of ring 
trays, and put them away if nothing desirable is found 
in them. When four or five are in a party, as often hap- 
pens, it is not a child's job to keep track of just who has 
the rings which do not return to the trays. Another 
thing to avoid is the interference of people standing wait- 
ing for a job, or something else, who reach over in front 
of the ones you are showing goods, and pick up a tray, 
and place it four or five feet away from you, and begin 
to handle the goods. An immediate call for another 
clerk should be given, or, if all are engaged, the clerk 
should take the tray back and inform them that as soon 
as the customers who are now looking are through, you 
will be glad to show them. You cannot afford to let 
people run over you, particularly when it may mean the 
loss of goods whose value may exceed the receipts of the 
day. The writer has said nothing about care iri handling 
diamonds, but takes it for granted that all salesmen ex- 
ercise their utmost watchfulness when showing such 
goods. Another matter to avoid as much as possible is 
leaving valuable goods on the show case, while you turn 
around to get something in a wall case for which you are 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 135 

asked. It is a simple matter to ask the customer whether 
or not they wish to decide on anything at which they are 
looking, and, if they do not answer positively just set 
them in the show case. The mere fact that they are call- 
ing for other goods justifies you in presuming that they 
have not yet reached the decisive moment, and you cannot 
afford to leave goods spread out on the show case. It 
can always be explained to a customer that you have to 
put things away, because so many are coming in and go- 
ing out' all the while. In making remarks of this kind, 
of course it is always understood that "present company 
is always excepted," and there is always a way to get 
around these things without being offensive or giving of- 
fense. 

One particular piece of advice of the Jewelers' Secur- 
ity Alliance I wish to emphasize. That is not to place 
goods in the show window in trays. Have them laid in 
singly. Then if a thief breaks the glass or reaches in 
from the store into the window he can take but three or 
four articles instead of taking a tray full. The Alliance 
also advises its members to read the trade papers and 
learn by the experience of others. 



136 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



METHODS OF CONDUCTING BUSINESS. 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 



THE VALUE OF A GOOD NAME. 

Whether it is a Good or Bad Reputation Depends Upon the 
Individual Himself — Don't be Afraid to Lose Sales by 
Telling the Truth — Have Your Name Stand for Re- 
liability. 

WHAT'S in a name?" Letters, of course. But 
there is something besides, which is more im- 
portant and of greater value. We are all de- 
sirous of success, and are earnestly endeavoring to merit 
and obtain it. Consequently we are ever on the alert, 
watching for opportunities to push ahead or gain some 
advantage in trade which has not perhaps come to our 
competitors. There is an old story of a man, who, in 
giving his son instructions before he entered business, 
told him to "Make money. Make it honestly if you 
can, but make money. While a great many measure 
success by the number of dollars one accumulates in 
a certain number of years, I do not take that view of it. 
As long as we live money will be a necessity, and we 
must necessarily have a share of it, but I think that we 
should use only those methods to secure it which will 
permit a man to enjoy his earnings without any dis- 
turbing voice of conscience to detract therefrom. 

While we are living and acting our several parts in 
the drama of life we are each and every one of us build- 
ing a reputation, either for good or evil, for honesty or 
dishonesty, for truthfulness or prevarication, for 
straightforwardness or trickery. 

It is as easy to acquire a reputation for one tning as 
the other, and a bad reputation once acquired is hard to 






EVANS'S ESSAYS. 137 



get rid of. The jeweler who believes that he has done 
a good stroke of business, when he has sold a twenty 
dollar watch to a man for $25, and who said he wanted 
to pay $25, may have a reaction when the customer hap- 
pens to compare with a friend, or makes inquiries of 
other stores. There are cases of people, who having 
made up their mind as to the kind of watch they wish to 
purchase have also established a price which they expect 
to pay, and having established this price, it is hard work 
to sell them one, either lower or higher priced. It is 
better, however, to spend considerable time in argument, 
to point out the difference in watches and the prices, and 
even allow him to depart without making a sale, rather 
than to charge more than the regular price to him. 
Never allow a customer to "beat you down" on the 
price. Acquire the reputation of being one-priced, and 
you will find it an easy matter to do business a second 
time with a customer. Do not sell goods which you are 
not perfectly sure will give satisfaction. Do not offer 
cheap plated goods as the best gold filled. If the manu- 
facturer has no conscience, don't forget that you have. 
Keep your conscience in good working order. Always 
make good any defects in the guarantee of goods or of 
your work. Do not advertise cut prices on goods, either 
in your windows or the papers. Better have the reputa- 
tion of being high priced, than of being "cheap." No 
one will speak of the cheap jeweler in a way that will 
be of any benefit to him. If he is mentioned at all, it is 
in an apologetic way. If you can make people under- 
stand that you sell good goods, and that "quality 
counts," and that it is no easy matter to pick qualities in 
jewelry, but that it really requires expert service to do 
it, the majority of people are willing to pay a little bit 
more for the satisfaction of knowing that their jewelry 
purchases are just what they appear to be. 

If you sell an article in gold which is 10k, do not let 
the customer persuade you to say that it is 14k. So 
many stores do this, that it is hard on the jeweler who 
sells things for what they are. Tell them that it is 
plump 10k, and that it is guaranteed to give satisfaction, 



138 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



and that you will exchange it if it does not. If you can 
acquire a reputation for truth-telling you will find it 
your most valuable asset in business. Never be afraid 
to lose sales. You are better off to lose a sale by telling 
the exact truth about it than you would be to make the 
sale by telling an untruth. Business is not measured by 
the receipts for any one day, week, or month. It is the 
continued dealings which we have with the same cus- 
tomers, year after year, which count up. Get people 
to believe in you, so that they will come to you to buy 
articles for presents, because the recipient will know that 
it is first-class from the fact that it came from your es- 
tablishment. 

In your advertising in the papers, and in your talks 
over the counter, impress upon people the fact that "all 
is not gold that glitters," and that as long as there are 
genuine articles of merit made, just so long there will 
be imitations of those articles made and sold, and that 
if they wish to feel easy regarding their jewelry pur- 
chases, let them come from your store. 

The average customer will allow that he knows noth- 
ing about the jewelry business or the comparative val- 
ues of goods. To these, the jeweler, if he is strictly 
honorable, becomes a friend in need, and one whom they 
learn to depend on for advice. If they realize that he 
will not sell them a poor article, he will find that his 
sales to them, and their friends, will materially increase. 

Have your name on an article, or on a jewelry case, 
stand for reliability, and remember always, that "a good 
name is rather to be chosen than great riches." 




EVANS'S ESSAYS. 139 



CHAPTER XXXV. 



CO-OPERATION AND SYSTEM. 

Suggestions That Will Prove of Advantage to the Jeweler, 
Great or Small — Every One in the Store Should Have 
Some Responsibility, and the Proprietor Most of All. 

IN all great businesses, there are men always trying 
to simplify the work, so that fewer men will be 
needed to conduct the business, with a minimum 
of detail and least possible energy expended. 

If it pays these large mercantile concerns, into whose 
coffers the dollars seem to pour, to figure things down 
to the cent, does it not behoove the small merchant to 
exercise his ingenuity to also save extra expense in his 
business. The percentage saved will be approximatly 
the same, although the amounts will differ greatly in 
the coin of the realm. 

How are these great businesses conducted? Does the 
head of the concern direct each movement, handle the 
advertising, do the buying, mark prices on the goods, 
handle the correspondence, keep the books, etc.? Of 
course he does not. Hje has trained his assistants, upon 
whose judgment he must rely to know what to do in 
emergencies, what moves to make, and when to make 
them to acquire advantage for him. 

The keynote of all business success is co-operation. 
No one man can handle the many details of a business. 
If he tries it he will be continually forgetting important 
matters which should be attended to, while bothering his 
head with some minor detail of the work which could be 
attended to by a boy or other office employe. If co- 
operation is advantageous and necessary for concerns in 
every line of business, it is surely necessary and beneficial 
to the retail jeweler. 

Naturally, the jeweler whose entire staff begins and 
ends with himself cannot sub-divide the work in his es- 



i40 EVANS'S ESS AYS. _ 

tablishment. He has to be the whole thing, and neces- 
sarily he has to work longer and harder to carry on his 
business than the storekeeper who has a business ten 
times as large, but who has trained assistants. 

The jeweler who conducts a small business has to wait 
on the caller or customers as they come in, filling in the 
intervening time with attacks on the hundred and one 
jobs of the various kinds which are brought into a retail 
jewelry store. After his store is closed for the night, he 
has to work on watches, write his orders, make out 
checks, mark his incoming goods, do up packages for 
mailing, and so on. 

Let us take a look at the store whose work is large 
enough to warrant the owner in having a force of five 
or six at the least. If the work is sub-divided and sys- 
tematized as it can and should be, we will find things run- 
ning along smoothly. 

One man, who is thoroughly experienced in watch 
work, should have charge of the watch repairing depart- 
ment. As far as possible he should take in the work, 
and also parcel it out to whoever else in the store does 
watch work. Another one should have charge of the jew- 
elry work and should in the same way take in the work of 
that department and make quotations, and he should 
also have charge of the jewelry material, jobbing stones, 
etc. By giving these repair departments into the hands 
of separate individuals, each will feel the responsibility 
of his position, and will try and make his department one 
which will be a paying one for the proprietor, and one in 
which there will be no complaints. 

By each man having charge of the material for his de- 
partment, he will keep track of what materials are needed. 
This will save time in ordering. If an optical depart- 
ment is conducted, still another exerienced man should 
be in charge of it. Another man should have charge of 
the stock, and besides keeping it in shape, should keep a 
list of needed articles, and be able, if necessary, to assist 
the proprietor in the buying of stock. The stockkeeper 
in all but the larger establishments can handle the cor- 
respondence. By having the labor separated in this way, 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 141 

better results can be had, because each man has only to 
think of what immediately concerns his own department. 
The watchmaker does not have to put in pin-tongues or 
solder a pair of spectacles while he is in the middle of 
pivoting a staff. The jeweler does not have to* worry 
about how the watch work is going. Each has his own 
work to do, and as each job is similar he can work faster 
and accomplish more in a day. He will also do better 
work. 

What is the proprietor doing all the while the rest are 
working so hard? In answer, I venture to say that he 
is the busiest man of the lot. He is considering how to 
make the business better. He is looking over countless 
stocks of goods and deciding what to buy and what not. 

He has also to wait on a large percentage of the cus- 
tomers, who think they can do better to do business with 
him. He has to take a few of the complaints of dissatis- 
fied customers and adjust their differences. He plays a 
varied role, and needs all his strength to keep it up. 

Where the store can afford it, one man can be profit- 
ably employed taking care of the advertising and decorat- 
ing the windows. 

Where the work is sub-divided, one man may be doing 
work which another could do better, or one man may 
think he could do the work better than the one who has 
that particular job to do; but each should be content and 
do his work in the best possible manner and in due time 
each will find his level be it higher or lower. 



142 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXXVI. 



PRACTICAL ADVICE FOR SALESMEN. 

The Following is Mr. Evans's Formula for Success: Hon- 
esty, Truthfulness, Promptness, Temperance, Enthusi- 
asm, Neatness, Cheerfulness, Energy, Fidelity to Ideals. 

WE all enjoy reading the biographies of the suc- 
cessful men of all ages, and our ambitions are 
often aroused to go and do likewise. Often, 
however, we settle down to the conviction that it is too 
late in the day for us to strike out and accomplish any- 
thing greater than we are doing at the present time. 
This is in no sense true even df the humblest of us. We 
should aim high, and by so doing we will certainly land 
in a higher spot than we would if we did not so aim. 

There are a number of essential principles which we 
must follow to obtain success, whether as employer or 
employe. First of all, honesty. There is room at the 
top for the men who are as true to their employer's in- 
terests as they are to their own, and who would not stoop 
to take advantage of his absence for their own pecuniary 
gain. 

Second, truthfulness. "Be the matter what it may, 
always speak the truth." Be one of those men of whom 
it can be said, "If he said so, it is so." It is an easy 
matter to acquire a habit, which, once formed, we 
can hardly shake off. Why not form the habit of telling 
the truth, instead of joining the ranks of those who 
from force of habit, lie, even when the truth would better 
serve their purpose. 

Third, promptness. There is nothing more aggra- 
vating to an employer than to have workmen late to their 
work. In factories where there are large numbers at 
work, strict regulations are necessary to compel the 
prompt attendance of the hands. In small enterprises 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 143 

where but half a dozen are employed, and where the 
employer is personally acquainted with each o'f his men, 
it is a harder matter to handle. It is a good idea to be 
a few minutes ahead of time than late even occasionally. 
Do not pattern after any one in regard to the time you 
report in the morning or the length of time you take for 
dinner. Do not let any one influence you to take advan* 
tage of an easy boss. Knowing the rules of the store 
regarding the time of opening and the hours for meals 
and the closing time, conform strictly to those rules. 
The man who does, is the one upon whom the proprietor 
unconsciously begins to lean for support in the conduct 
of the business, and he is the one, other things being 
equal, who is given a share in the business. 

Fourth, be temperate in all things. The man who is 
intemperate either in his use of alcoholic liquors, smok- 
ing or chewing tobacco, or in keeping late hours, can not 
give as satisfactory service as the man who abstains from 
these practices. He should keep regular hours, not reg- 
ularly late, but regularly early, and get the necessary 
amount of sleep, without having to stay in bed so late in 
the morning that he is late to the store, has a headache, 
feels sleepy, and is generally no good around the store. 
On the other hand the man with good habits gets the 
necessary sleep, and is up early enough in the morning 
to get to work without unnecessary hurry, and feels like 
work when he gets to the store. 

Fifth, enthusiasm. We should be enthusiastic in our 
work. If we do not enjoy the work we are doing, let's 
get into something more to our notion, as a misfit is use- 
less in any business. We should be thoroughly in love 
with our work, and awake to the possibilities of our busi- 
ness. The enthusiastic man carries others along with 
him, and by his very presence and spirit helps to make 
the business wear a successful air. To appear to be suc- 
ceeding is a long step towards success. 

Neatness. We should keep ourselves scrupulously 
neat and clean. Our clothing should always be in good 
condition, our linen spotless, and our neckwear should 
not be frayed or worn. Nothing can give a business a 



144 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

run-down appearance quicker than to have the proprietor 
and clerks carelessly dressed, minus cuffs, and with two 
or three days' growth of beard on their faces. It is not 
necessary for a man to be foppish, but we can all on our 
salaries, if careful, look and be well dressed. If we are 
not getting paid enough to dress well, we should change 
our job. Tis said that "clothes do not make the man,"' 
but it is also said, that "man looketh on the outward ap- 
pearance, and surely the clothes help to make the first im- 
pression, which, with a great many people, is the last- 
ing one. 

Cheerfulness. We may have to wait on customers 
who are not just our style or to our liking, but what dif- 
ference does it make to us? We should wait on each 
customer cheerfully, and not act as though we were con- 
descending quite a little when we wait on them. By be- 
ing agreeable with the trade, we will unconsciously be 
building up a clientle of our own, which will be worth 
money to us should we ever wish to change our position 
or engage in business for ourselves. We should remem- 
ber that we are building every day, and that the better 
we serve an honest employer the better we serve our 
own interests. 

Be energetic. Look for work. If there is nothing 
especial to< do, clean up. The stock, fixtures, etc., all 
need attention almost any time, and we are doing our- 
selves a favor when we keep busy, and" do not acquire 
the habit of standing around with no apparent aim in life. 

Finally, "To thine own self be true, and it must fol- 
low, as the night the day, thou canst not tnen be false to 
any man. ! ' ] 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 145 



CHAPTER XXXVII. 



THROUGH LABOR COMES REWARD. 

Young Business Men Should Not Expect Success Until 
They Earn it — Design and Quality of Goods Rather 
Than Price, Should be Relied on to Build Up a Perma- 
nent Trade. 

WE Americans glory in our great men, and we 
have a right to feel proud of them, but when 
we come to analyze their abilities, we find that 
they were just as ordinary as the humblest of us, and 
possessed no special qualifications, except an indomi- 
table purpose to accomplish something in the world. 
What man has done man can do again, and we are con- 
tinually seeing illustrations of this in political, business 
and social circles. 

A man who occupies a prominent place in the affairs 
of the government dies, and every one feels that his place 
cannot well be filled. Another man, less widely known, 
succeeds to the position, and things move along just as 
smoothly as before, and the first man is almost forgotten, 
except by his most intimate friends. 

The trouble with the biographies of most great men, 
is that their humble origin is generally passed over, and 
greater space is given to their later achievements. There 
is certainly no better pastime than to read the lives of 
successful men, and try and derive encouragement and 
advice therefrom. When we read of the years which a 
professional man waits for recognition, we begin to won- 
der how a man can expect to open up in business, and in 
the face of competition immediately begin to coin money. 
While the business man has no such wait as the profes- 
sional man before he gains a competency to live on, it 
requires years of patient, untiring work to acquire real 
business success. 



146 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

With what seems a sufficient number of jewelry stores 
to supply the public need of such luxuries, and keep their 
watches and jewelry in repair, what reason can a new 
beginner offer, besides his own personality, to deserve 
patronage which has heretofore been distributed among 
the other dealers. There must be some good reason to 
offer, or they will not change, at least otherwise than 
temporarily. But we are looking for permanent cus- 
jtojmers, and these are what will assist one to achieve 
success. 

To draw trade we must be able to do something, just 
a little better than others, offer a greater variety to 
choose from, or offer some inducement, such as cut prices, 
souvenirs, or free delivery of purchases. The cut prices 
and souvenir section of this paragraph might well be 
omitted, as trade which is desirable is not influenced by 
any catch-penny schemes. Such methods are all right 
for the traveling auction store, who is here to-day and 
elsewhere to-morrow. 

In buying goods, pay, if necessary, a trifle more and 
get designs which arei exclusive and different from the 
regular line of goods. In the line of brooches, there is 
such a variety of styles possible that we could not attempt 
to carry even a tenth of those shown, but we can .select a 
few, here and a few there, and so on. People like 'to 
trade where they can see a variety and the dollar or two 
extra which they have to pay is forgotten in their pleasure 
at having secured something so unique and original in 
design. It is a question in my mind whether any great 
amount of trade can be influenced by cut prices. Sup- 
pose that you have a watch which you sell regularly for 
$35 and you desire to cut the price. Would a purchaser 
be more easily found if you offered that watch for 
$31.99? If people want jewelry they want good qual- 
ity goods,, at least when they hie themselves to the jew- 
elers. An article rightly made, and of good quality, and 
priced rightly, will readily sell. A good many writers 
maintain that a jewelry business cannot be run on the 
one-price idea, but this is a fallacy. There is is no use of 
allowing an outsider to make your prices for you. Once 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 147 

started, you will have to maintain it. If your goods are 
not marked at a fair price, re-mark them. If your con- 
science troubles you about charging the price, figure out 
your profit, and if it is too much cut the price. Always 
remember, though, that the difference in price between 
the cost and selling is not your profit. Your store ex- 
penses, such as rent, heating, lighting, advertising, boxes, 
paper, string, and so on, have to be figured on and allow- 
ance made for them before you can count your profit. 

If people really insist upon buying cheap goods, let 
them go elsewhere for them. Impress upon them the 
fact that you cannot afford to sell goods which you are 
not absolutely sure will give the customer full value for 
his money. It is worth your while to argue, if necessary, 
to convince your customer that it is to your interest as 
well as his to sell him reliable goods, as you cannot take 
chances on losing his trade by letting him buy an article 
of which you have your doubts. 

On repair work as well as on stock, whatever you un- 
dertake to do always do your best, remembering that 
"what's worth doing is worth doing well," and that if you 
do good work you can charge a fair price for it. /The 
successful jeweler has founded his success upon a more 
solid basis than price. He has builded his structure 
upon quality. The reputation for selling right goods at 
right prices makes positive that under ordinary condi- 
tions the business will steadily and surely increase. 

The cut-price jeweler must continue to offer "bargains'" 
in order to do business. A store which has the reputation 
of holding "sales" will not be able to do a regular busi- 
ness. Trade will be at a standstill upon all days except 
"bargain days." Not so with the "quality store." The 
fact that makes your name valuable on a jewelry case is 
the reputation of selling reliable goods. 



148 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XXXVIII. 



HOW TO HOLD OUR CUSTOMERS. 

What Policy Should Retailers Pursue to Make Permanent 
Customers Out of Those Who Make Their First Pur- 
chase — To be Concise and Pithy the Answer is, "Give 
Satisfaction." 

WE are all of us interested in increasing our busi- 
ness, and those of us who are alive are con- 
stantly on the alert for new and improved 
methods for acquiring new customers. Plan after plan 
may be tried which will be successful in bringing to our 
store dozens of new faces, who may make what you may 
call trial purchases. Or they may merely look around 
our store and examine the different articles we have for 
sale, mentally debating, the while, whether it will be to 
their advantage to trade with us rather than at their 
former jewelers. If people come to our store even to 
look, it shows that they are open to conviction, and that 
they have a favorable opinion of our store, or they would 
not be there. To visitors of this kind, we should be 
particularly courteous, and strive to the best of our abil- 
ity to send them away satisfied; satisfied with their pur- 
chase, if they made one ; satisfied with their treatment, 
if they made no purchase. 

We are always obtaining new customers, and the ques- 
tion most important is how to hold thei'r trade on subse- 
quent purchases. There are some people whose trade 
no one can hold. They drop in where it is convenient, 
and are just as apt to buy from Smith as from Jones. 
There are others who are never satisfied, and whom the 
jeweler is unable to suit. Either the price is not right, 
or there is some defect in their purchase. They go from 
one store to another, and finally land in the same store 
again. It is useless to worry over them, as there are 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 149 

just enough of such people to enable us to appreciate the 
fact that most of the people we meet and have dealings 
with are pretty fair sort of people, after all. So these 
disagreeable people serve a useful and unique purpose in 
life, and demonstrate that even the humblest of us can 
be of service to our fellow man. 

It is not necessarily the store having the most cus- 
tomers which does the largest and most profitable busi- 
ness. In the same manner of reasoning, and in demon- 
stration of the foregoing, it is not the man with the larg- 
est earning capacity who has the greatest amount of 
ready money. It is not what a man earns, but what he 
saves out of his earnings, which counts. So, too, it is 
not the number of customers which a store has, but the 
amount of business done in the aggregate, which counts. 
If we have a selected list of customers, and can hold 
their trade on fine goods, as well as on smaller purchases, 
we will do as well as we would with a larger clientele 
who made smaller purchases. The store with a large list 
of customers has a decided advantage in some things, 
however. Occasionally, some disgruntled individual will 
inform you that he is through with you, and that you 
need not expect his support in the future. If he is one 
of ten thousand, you can spare him very easily, whereas 
if he is one of a hundred, you will miss him. In a large 
business, a greater number of small sales wi'll result, 
which will net a larger percentage of profit than the 
same amount received in a few large transactions. 

But in either case, we must give satisfaction in order 
to hold our trade. We must impress upon our custom- 
ers that we are careful what we sell them ; that we would 
not knowingly sell them, or let them buy an article the 
merits of which we were not entirely cognizant with. 
We must impress all comers, if possible, that our store is 
a safe one from which to have all their jewelry purchases 
come. While plainly displaying your desire to sell, as 
plainly show your independence of making any one sale. 
Make them understand that you have a decided person- 
ality, and that you mean to have your store and your 



150 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

stock reflect that personality. Insist upon their return- 
ing to you any goods which they may buy, which do not 
prove as represented. Assure them that you are willing 
at any time to listen to complaints, and to rectify any 
mistakes on your part, and that you intend to satisfy 
them, if you can possibly do so. It is not necessary for 
you to forfeit one grain of your self-respect. There is 
a time for everything, and there is a time to stand up for 
your rights, but in a case where a customer is complain- 
ing over some trivial affair, make it right, where the ex- 
pense is small, even though it does not seem to you that 
you should be called upon to do so. Then, too, the 
guarantees on plated chains, bracelets, and so on, given 
by manufacturers, and under which the retailer sells the 
goods, should be lived up to. Why spend the time try- 
ing to convince a man that he has had his money out of 
an article, which he has brought in to be made right, 
when the manufacturer is perfectly willing to make it 
good? We not only injure ourselves, but the manufac- 
turer also, when we refuse to make good his guarantees, 
which only requires on our part the sending of it back to 
the factory together with an explanatory letter. 

So, let us pursue the course which is sure to bring us 
satisfactory results, and the rule to follow is the Golden 
Rule, "Do unto others, as you would that they should do 
unto you," not as David Harum put it, "Do unto others 
what they would like to do to you, and do it fust." Most 
people know when they are used right, and do not forget 
the store where their trade was appreciated to such a de- 
gree that they would rather that they would go away 
without purchasing, than to sell them an article which 
was defective. In the conduct of a store there is use for 
diplomacy, or tact, or whatever name you wish to put on 
that system, which tells one how to handle the different 
kinds of customers, and which teaches us when to talk, 
and when to listen, what subjects should never be dis- 
cussed with customers, and also, that we are here to sell 
goods, not to mould public opinion, or change it. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 151 



CHAPTER XXXiIX. 



REPUTATION AND CREDIT. 

"A Good Name is Rather to be Chosen Than Great Riches" 
— How a Reputation for Square Dealing Will Help the 
Dealer to Get Goods Promptly — Some Points as to the 
Management of Your Finances. 

THE subject which will be discussed in this chapter 
is the value of a good name among the men from 
whom it is necessary for the retail jeweler to pro- 
cure his stock. Those of us who have the reputation 
of being honest, truthful and straightforward, seldom 
realize what we have to be thankful for. Truly, such a 
reputation is not the result of luck, but of faithful toil, 
and earnest attention to business in all that the word im- 
plies. But there are many little things which militate 
against a man, and will often give an honest man the 
appearance of being an undesirable customer. What is 
credit? It gives you the right to order and receive 
goods, and sell them again, without ever having paid a 
cent on them, merely on the supposition that you will 
pay for them, according to the terms written upon the 
bill, or special agreement made. 

Let us consider two cases illustrating the two classes 
of men. Jones, a man of known honesty of purpose, 
orders to-night two dozen watches, and because of its 
being Jones, and of his having remitted promptly before, 
the goods are shipped immediately, and he has them as 
quickly as the express can bring them. Smith orders at 
the same time a selection of such goods, and because he 
took so long paying for goods on a previous occasion, 
he is either turned down entirely, he receives a poor 
selection, or there is a day or two delay while he i»s being 
investigated. All this time he is perhaps waiting to re- 
ceive the goods, in order to show them to his customer, 
and because he is so slow in getting them loses the sale. 



152 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

Another kind of credit might be given a word or two 
here, that is "memorandum credit." Most houses freely 
offer to send to reliable dealers selection packages of 
goods for which they have a call, and which they have 
not in stock, but their object is not only to accommodate 
a customer, but to help him effect a sale, so that both may 
receive profit thereby. But suppose a jeweler uses the 
wholesaler more than he has any right to do, and sup- 
pose that he seldom makes a sale from these selections, 
and that he returns the polished goods soiled, tags and 
cards dirty, and with insufficient packing? Can the 
wholesaler be expected to put himself to the trouble of 
sending another selection when it is asked for? The 
writer has been told that it is because of this carelessness 
and thoughtlessness upon the part of the retailer, that so 
many of the largest houses have cut this service out al- 
most entirely, making an occasional exception to some 
good customer, but never advertising the fact that they 
will send such packages. Retailers should remember 
this, and take better care of others' goods than they do 
of their own. 

But what is the reason that the same kind of a letter 
written by two different men receives entirely different 
attention? Why is it that you have perfect confidence 
in one man and distrust of another? Intuition tells a 
great deal, but intuition does not tell the difference be- 
tween men of whom one has never seen? Of course, 
wholesalers have their rating books, but they cannot go 
entirely by them. Some men do not give reports, while 
others make fictitious reports to these companies. But 
two men who have been doing business with the same 
house for several years will during that time expose to 
the wholesaler their characters and dispositions. He 
will notice whether or not a man is particular as to price 
or discount, whether he looks for long time in preference 
to low prices ; whether he will stand it to have goods sub- 
stituted or orders stuffed ; whether he deducts the proper 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 153 

discount from his bills, and sends remittances at the 
oroper time or not ; whether he pays in full ; pays certain 
bills, or sends so much on account. 

From these little thing's, a man may gain the opinion, 
whether or not vou are a careful buyer, and are running 
your store on a safe basis. Character is worth more than 
money, and money cannot buy it. In the business world 
there is plenty of opportunity for advancement for men 
of character. Men of worth, short of money, can gen- 
erally get either the money or an extension of time. It 
is a good idea to have a definite understanding with your 
bank as to the amount which they are willing to loan 
you. A statement of your resources and liabilities, show- 
ing you to be in good condition, will generally satisfy 
such institutions. With this understanding, you can tell 
how to proceed in buying and selling. 

Pay all small bills promptly. Better owe two or three 
large accounts, than the same amounts divided among 
twenty-five or fifty. If at any time through dull trade, 
you find yourself unable to meet recurring obligations as 
they come due, and do not wish to borrow the sum 
needed, write an explanatory letter to your creditor or 
creditors. Such confidence is seldom misplaced or 
abused. A letter to the effect that trade has been excep- 
tionally slow, but that in the course of a month you will 
be able to take care of the account, will generally bring 
a satisfactory reply. Straightforwardness never loses 
the day. If a letter is ever received requesting a remit- 
tance, or intimating that a draft may be sent if remit- 
tance is not immediately forthcoming, do not throw the 
letter into the wastebasket, while you apply sundry 
appellations to the writer thereof, but sit down and write 
a careful response explaining your position. Never 
leave a creditor in doubt as to what you intend to do. 
Few reali'ze the benefits, to be derived from a reputation 
gained for honesty and truthfulness. Start right and 
hold fast to the end. When long time is offered you on 
goods, just see for how much less you can buy them, if 



154 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

you have the ready cash. Where six months' time is of- 
fered and you get 10 per cent, off for cash, isn't 
it an object for you to do so, when you can get 20 per 
cent, interest on your money. This is even more than the 
fake mining companies offer. 

Do not make outside investments which will cripple 
your business. If you are fortunate enough to have 
money to invest outside of your business, put it into a 
savings bank, city homestead aid association or real es- 
tate, where it can be used or put up as collateral security 
for loans should necessity require. Some writers advo- 
cate the theory that the cause of the present dull times 
is because of stock investments by people who never have 
bought such stock before. Times have been good, and 
the great middle class of people have had spare money, 
and being eager to invest where great returns are 
promised, have bought as many shares of stock as they 
felt able, and have a certificate to show as the result. The 
jeweler should make his investments where he can watch 
them, and have control of them, and can realize quickly 
if need be. It is a good thing to have something back of 
you. It gives people confidence in you, and makes more 
secure your position in the business world. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 155 



CHAPTER XL. 



THE IDEAL JEWELRY CLERK. 

The Salesman Must Have a Chance at Customers Else He 
Can Hardly Obtain Experience — The Proprietor Should 
Not Take Sales Out of His Clerk's Hands— How the 
Salesman Should Handle His Customer. 

USUALLY in a jewelry store, a man has to be an 
all-round man, doing his share of the various 
kinds of repairing, and taking his turn at "wait- 
ing on customers." It is rather difficult for a man under 
such conditions to develop into a first-class salesman. 
In every establishment of any size whatever there is 
one, or perhaps there are several clerks, whom the pro- 
prietor feels satisfied can handle any trade. It is for 
one of these that he always calls when a customer enters. 
It has been said that poets are born not made, and 
while we must confess that most salesmen are born, 
yet opportunity often makes the man. The clerk who 
is never pressed into service until all others are en- 
gaged cannot well expect to equal the one who is doing 
nothing else all day. The best results are naturally 
achieved by the one who, by giving the most time to it,, 
and by so familiarizing himself with the stock, that it is 
second nature to him to sell goods. Showing goods is 
not necessarily selling them. The ideal salesman under- 
stands the stock thoroughly and discriminates between 
qualities. He does not call everything he shows the 
"best," or the "latest." Superlatives should be handled 
with care. 

In selling goods, it should be his aim to make and hold 
the confidence of the customer, and so secure not only 
one sale, but his continued patronage. Tell the truth al- 
ways. Teach customers that they can safely trust your 



156 EVANS'S ESSA YS 

advice and judgment. Teach them that when they leave, 
as it were, the selection of the article to you that your 
sense of honor will not permit you to sell anything which 
is not thoroughly reliable and strictly up-to-date. Why 
is it that customers will wait, as they often do, a full half- 
hour in order to have their favorite salesman wait upon 
them? Sometimes it is doubtless because he makes a 

special price to them, but oftener because he has pleased 
them with their previous purchases. It misdit be said 
that proprietors do themselves and their clerks an injus- 
tice when they make a practice of makingf differences in 
prices which the clerk cannot do. If the clerk is not 
competent to wait on trade, do not ask him to do so. If 
it is ri'ght for the proprietor to make such cuts, the clerk 
should have the same privilege. 

The trouble with a great many people is that they are 
"near-sighted." They cannot see beyond to-day. They 
seem to figure that if the sale is not made to-day, it is lost 
forever, and so they will call a customer back, and try to 
influence the sale by making a cut in the price. Ten 
chances to one, the customer will leave anywav. Per- 
haps he did not intend to buy that day; or he wished to 
look elsewhere before deciding ; or perhaps he was devoid 
of the "filthy lucre," which we are all desirous of han- 
dling. This special offer once made must be lived up to 
should he return, and the chances are even that he would 
have returned anyway. 

A proprietor injures himself, as well as his clerk, when 
he takes sales out of his hands, and makes offers which 
the clerk is forbidden to make. The clerk will never 
make a salesman if treated in this way. It does not give 
him a chance to develop ; neither does it fill him with that 
respect and esteem for his employer which makes him 
feel an interest in the business, and a desire to see the 
business grow. A store rightly run is one where goods 
are sold at uniform prices, and where you can be positive 
that you buy equally as low from one as another. If a 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 157 

proprietor does occasionally land a sale by such methods, 
there is just as much lost during his absence from the 
store, because of the inability of the clerk to handle this 
class of trade. 

Sometimes you may be showing goods to a "looker," 
who may need only a word spoken at the proper time to 
transform him into a purchaser. A good many "look- 
ers" are such because they are minus cash. Others are 
such because they dislike to part with their money, and, 
because they have an unsatisfied desire for jewelry, con- 
tinue to be "lookers." Such people need persuasion, and 
it should be done in a judicious manner. Other custom- 
ers wish to deliberate over their purchases, and such peo- 
ple should be allowed time to think. There is such a thing 
as talking too much, but there is just as much danger of 
saying too little. We often hear of the "silent salesman," 
but the expression generally applies to mechanical devices 
which are supposed to so display goods as to promote 
their sale. 

A salesman worthy of the name makes such explana- 
tions regarding the goods as may seem necessary, with- 
out waiting to be asked. Every one is not familiar with 
the goods we handle, and while it is not necessary to go 
.into particulars, a general idea should be given regarding 
the goods, the qualities, and the reasons for the differ- 
ences in prices. With these explanations, a customer is 
satisfied, and is able to buy intelligently. A great many 
people hesitate about asking questions, as they dislike to 
expose their ignorance, but will allow their eyes to decide 
for them. 

Qualities are so different in gold and gold plated goods, 
and as all gold goods are gold, and all gold plated ones 
are gold plated or filled, and as the cheaper grade of filled 
goods are invariably guaranteed the longest, a clear state- 
ment of the facts is really necessary. Some clerks con- 
sider themselves salesmen, because they occasionally 
make a sale to a friend or to a customer who knows just 



158 EVANS'S ESSA YS . 

what he wants, and will buy at that particular store any- 
way. Others will show goods and merely state the price 
of different articles, making no remarks regarding the 
same, or making any explanation why one style of chain 
costs more than another. In a case like this if any money 
changes hands, it is the result of the customer buying, not 
of the clerk selling. 

The genuine salesman is full of enthusiasm for his 
work, and has the ability to suggest articles to customers 
who are unable to determine just what they want to buy. 
Such customers are sometimes very difficult to handle, as 
they either have nothing in mind or they have several dif- 
ferent articles in mind. So it comes about that the clerk 
has to show them almost the entire stock and perhaps 
leave them as undecided as before ; but if he can concen- 
trate their attention on one line of goods, or on one par- 
ticular article the battle is won. In this connection, a 
word of advice may be given. Never antagonize a cus- 
tomer's opinions regarding politics or religion, or his 
preferences regarding jewelry. When you show a half- 
dozen watches of different prices, notice the one which 
the customer appears to take a fancy to, and then show 
him watches along that price, finally concentrating all 
your energy to sell him the one which he has taken a no- 
tion to. It is easier to push than to pull, because you 
have the customer with you. 




EVANS'S ESSAYS. 159 



CHAPTER XLI. 



COMPETITION THE LIFE OF TRADE. 

It Draws Trade and is a Benefit to Jewelers— Do Not Talk 
Against Your Business Rival— On the Contrary be in 
Touch With Him and Work Together— Exert Yourself 
to Please Customers — Advertise and Look Pleasant. 

(( ^COMPETITION is the life of trade." This old 
\^S saying is a good deal like that of "Honesty 
is the best policy." — true, but hard to believe 
sometimes. We should occasionally stop and consider 
the difference there would be between things as they 
now exist, and as they would be had we no competitors. 
What do we mean by competition, and who is our com- 
petitor? In a foot race all who enter are called 
competitors. In business, however, we cannot call 
every one engaged in the same business competi- 
tors. Differences in location and class of goods carried 
eliminate some of our fellow-craftsmen. All jewelers 
have what they call competitors. Those who seem to 
cater to the same class of trade, and who carry practi- 
cally the same class of goods, and who, perhaps, are 
nearest one's location, would most naturally be deemed 
competitors. Some jewelers form a dislike for these in- 
terlopers, as they term them; the one first established 
going on the supposition that he has pre-empted the 
entire claim. As a natural sequence of two stores being 
located in a district where one formerly held dominion, 
each will get a share of the business, and, unless a hustle 
is made by the first jeweler, his trade wi'll naturally fall 
off. But again, sometimes a competitor serves a useful 
purpose. By advertising and making attractive window 
displays, he will not only help himself, but you also, as 
your old friends will be apt to call upon you first for 
new goods before seeing him. Sometimes a competitor 



160 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

will enliven business for you. An instance is in my 
mind now, of a section of a city where a single repairer 
without stock held forth for years. No one thought it 
would pay to carry stock in that section of the city. 
Finally a jeweler opened up with a stock, and was soon 
followed by two others, all of whom did business. 
Finally two of them moved away, and one other con- 
solidated two stores and moved from that section of the 
city. The remaining store was unable to continue in 
business, because 01 lack of competition, which had 
drawn much trade in that direction, Teopie like to look 
at goods in several places, iiach jeweler serves his 
brothers a useful turn by preparing the way for a sale. 
By showing goods to people who are not thinking of 
buying he makes them think about them, and perhaps 
when they are in one of the other stores they may make 
a purchase. 

An agent for a large safe company was telling me 
about his experiences. He said that he would sometimes 
spend a day talking safe to a man who thought he did 
not need one, and then he finally would go away, with 
the promise of the storekeeper that he would think it 
over. The latter would do so>, and a tew days later an- 
other safe agent would drop m, and, catching him in the 
mood, land the sale without any exertion. Such work 
may properly be called missionary work and each one 
profits just the same by the work of others. This only 
illustrates that your competitor can and does befriend 
you. 

Never berate your competitor. Speak well of him. 
If you seem jealous of him people will think he is hurt- 
ing you and will surely go to see him. Some men are 
continually advertising their competitors by talking 
against them. Do not believe all the reports that come 
to you about your competitor. Do not take it for 
granted that he is selling goods at the cut prices which 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 161 



people tel 1 vou about. Customers often tell things whi'ch 
are not absolutely accurate. If they tell them about 
your own store you know better, but if they tell you 
that your competitor does thus and so, how quick you 
are to believe them. People come to know these things, 
and some, if they find they can save 50 cents to a dollar 
by prevarication, will do so. Another incident will 
illustrate this. The writer was showing alarm clocks, 
and the customer was attracted particularly by a $1.50 
clock but informed me that a friend of his had bought 
one from us for a dollar. Upon my assuring him that 
such was not the case, he asserted that "if it wasn't a 
dollar it was $1.25," but finally ended by paying the 
price asked. 

Then again, people not qualified to judge about qual- 
ities will make misstatements unintentionally. If you 
will take the trouble to get acquainted with your com- 
petitor, you will find that he is a pretty fair sort of a 
fellow after all, and you will not believe that he says 
the things which are reported to you; neither will you 
say anything against him, as your acquaintance and 
friendship will prevent it. Each can and shoulld 
benefit the other. In a small town where there is no job- 
ber the value of a friendly feeling between competitors 
cannot be overestimated. Small material, and even stock 
of various kinds are needed almost every day. How 
much better to be able to go to a brother jeweler and find 
him willing to accommodate us with the needed material 
or goods at a reasonable price, than to have to wait sev- 
eral days or send our customer to him, because of the 
delay. A man to have friends must show himself friend- 
ly. Perhaps your competitor has had the same opinion 
about you as you have had about him, and perhaps 
both had a little reason to think that way, and so both 
were partly in the right and partly in the wrong. 

A competitor is not necessarily unfair because he sells 
goods at lower prices than you. Difference in buying, 
or different ideas of what profit to place on certain lines 



l62 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



of goods, make this diversity in prices. By associating 
with competitors and talking over trade matters with 
them and comparing prices, perhaps these differences may 
be overcome. 

In most cases competition makes it "the survival of 
the fittest." If there are good and sufficient reasons 
why the populace should trade with you let them know 
about it. Show them that you mean business when you 
say "we want your trade." Be willing to exert yourself 
to please. Talk it in your ads. Show it in your face. 
Do not rely on location, length of time in business, or 
any other superficial reason for success. 

Let competition develop the best there is in us. Let 
it arouse within us our ambition to be the leader in the 
city. Let our ads, our show windows, and our stores 
extend to all a welcome to call, and look, make com- 
parisons, if they wish, and that we are perfectly willing to 
abide by the result. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 163 



CHAPTER XLIL 



BE GENEROUS TO CUSTOMERS. 

Be Sure, However, and Make Them Pay for the Generosity 
—Little Things that Can't in Reality be Charged for 
Oftentimes Bring About an Important Sale. 

(( C^ OMETHING for nothing is what everybody is 
^^^ anxious to get, and no one to give." Such 
was the beginning of an advertisement sent 
out by one of the watch case companies some years ago. 
Nevertheless, the retail jeweler will always be compelled 
to give with each sale, something which costs him money, 
and it should be considered in establishing the price of 
his goods. Take, for instance, the cases required for 
watches, rings, brooches, cufT buttons, scarf pins, ear- 
rings, and so forth, which cost the jeweler from 25 cents 
apiece upward, according to quality. Some stores charge 
extra for these, but that is a mistake. Make the price of 
the article enough to cover the case, and throw that in. It 
strikes the average customer as rather small to be charged 
25 cents to 50 cents extra for an article which cost, say, 
$25. It is surprising how the offer of a case with an arti- 
cle will effect the sale in many instances, where the cus- 
tomer was undecided. Somehow an article looks better 
when it is set aside from the rest of the stock. When the 
customer leans toward one particular watch, just reach 
for a velvet watch box and set it in and call the custo- 
mer's attention to it, and, nine times out of ten, the re- 
mark that you will give that with it, makes the sale 
positive. 

Cases of this kind should be of good quality. Do not 
make the mistake of getting the cheapest you can buy 
because you are going to give them away. Give one 
that will not only satisfy, but please, and will make the 
recipient thereof compliment your store, not only for the 



1 64 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

ring or watch purchased, but for the handsome case 
which you gave with it. Then, again, the having of a 
case to give away, does away with attempts to beat down 
on the price. When a customer asks for a better price, 
and you show him the case you intend to put the article 
in, the fact that you are showing a generous spirit will 
often disarm him. Then, too, it will be easy to say that 
if the case is not desired, you can make 50 cents differ- 
ence in the price, and the average customer will pay the 
full price and take the outfit complete. 

In the jewelry business as this is written, there is a 
leaning toward signets of every description, and so we 
find signet rings, signet bracelets, signet fobs, signet 
brooches, signet hat pins, signet chatelaines, etc., all call- 
ing for free engraving. The stores fortunate enough 
to number engravers among their staff are in a position 
to be congratulated, but such stores do not appreciate 
the value of what they give away in this line as well as 
those stores which have to have such work done out by 
the piece. The stores with an engraver very often can 
land a sale, by the offer to engrave in a short time an 
article selected. This is a department where the smallest 
store carrying even a limited stock can claim prcedence 
over its largest competitor, if there is a marked difference 
in the quality of engraving done. People would rather 
pay a good price than have something given them in the 
way of, engraving which, instead of adding beauty to the 
article, detracts from it. 

So, if you do not number among your employes a 
first-class engraver, make arrangements with one to do 
your work. Do not save money by doing it yourself, 
unless you can do it well. If the work is poorly done 
you will averag'e one sale to a customer. Whether you 
do it yourself or hire it done, when you are taking an 
order for engraving, get an idea from the customer as 
to what style of type or lettering they prefer. People 
and their ideas differ greatly, and what would be pleas- 
ing to one would not even be accepted by another. 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 165 

Some people consider Old English the finest style of let- 
tering, and some the block, while others want "writing 
letters." Some think the "cypher" monogram inferior 
to the old style block letter monogram, so there you are. 
If you go ahead wth the work you are as apt to displease 
as please them; but with their idea of what is the pret- 
tiest, and neatest, and most up-to-date, you can go 
ahead and be very sure to suit them. If people are sat- 
isfied with the engraving they will speak of it to their 
friends, and you will be the gainer thereby. 

Of course, we give away time in large quantities 
showing goods, but other stores do that. The regula- 
tion of watches, the winding of key-winders for those who 
have forgotten to do so and are without the key; the 
time spent in examining treasures picked up by the 
way; weighing and testing old gold and silver; examin- 
ing diamond settings and seeing that the stones are 
secure ; giving opinions as to the advisability of having 
changes made in the settings of rings, brooches, and so 
on; the kindness of heart which leads us to discourage 
people from spending money having imitation stones 
mounted; the cleaning up of articles "while they wait," 
and so on indefinitely. It does seem as though the re- 
tail dealer in watches and jewelry has more calls made 
on his time, for which he receives nothing more than 
thanks, and not always that, than any other business that 
one can think of. He naturally has to make change and 
sell stamps in common with other dealers. So I would 
close with this word of advice to fellow jewelers. Do 
cheerfully all that you necessarily must do for nothing, 
but, for goodness sake, don't do anything for nothing 
for which you can possibly make a charge. In all pos- 
sible cases have these little jobs left, as you can charge 
10 cents apiece for many which would go for nothing 
if done while the customer waits. If you give anything 
away, give the best you can afford. Always, however, 
try to cultivate the good opinion of your customer, 
whether you sell hfcn something at a profit or make him 
a present. 



1 66 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XiLIII. 



THE AVERAGE MAN DESCRIBED. 

The Jeweler Should Cater to the Middle Class, as They Pay 
the Profits— Have Only One Price— and That Plainly 
Marked— Treat All Customers Alike. 

IT is a fact familiar perhaps to every reader that many 
ministers of churches, in addressing their congre- 
gations, make it a practice to select some particular 
individual in the audience toward whom they direct their 
remarks. In this way they can make their sermons more 
personal in character, and more effective in results. It 
is a hard matter to talk in the air. 

It has also been said that many pulpit orators deliver 
their sermons in language which the simplest of their 
hearers can understand. There are lessons right here 
for us to learn. Let us look for the average man. Not 
the richest of our acquaintances ; not the poorest ; not 
the most learned ; not the simplest, but the average man, 
or the middle man, as you may choose to designate him. 
The stores which have obtained the highest measure 
of success, have been those who have catered to the 
wants of the average man. Take the use of our show 
windows for instance. Suppose that we fill our win- 
dows with nothing but expensive goods, even without 
putting price marks on them. How many sales will re- 
sult from that especial display? Few, indeed, in the 
opinion of the writer. Suppose that we fill it with cheap 
jewelry to sell at 25 and 50 cents each. What opinion 
will the passing throng form of our store and its equip- 
ment? Will they not size us up as a cheap, or trashy 
store ? A fair place to buy a trinket if you only wish to 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 167 

wear it a few times and throw it away. But the right 
idea, is, to appeal to the average man through our win- 
dows. So, while we are particular not to display any 
goods which will not wear and give entire satisfaction, 
we should make it a point to have the majority of the 
goods, so exhibited, be of the kind known as popular 
priced, or medium priced goods, etc. In this class will 
be found diamond rings selling at prices from $15 to 
$50. Rings from $2.50 to $10. Cuff buttons from $1 to 
$10. Scarf pins from $1 to $5 and so on, remembering 
that these amounts are carried by the ordinary class of 
people, who may decide to purchase if they happen to 
see what they want. Who is the average man? He is 
the man who wishes first quality goods, but who is willing 
that you should make a profit on your sales. He would 
not buy a so-called bargain in jewelry, because he does 
not rely upon his judgment to select his jewelry, but 
prefers to patronize a reliable store whose guarantee rel- 
ative to qualities he can believe. Such men constitute 
the large class denominated as the average man. Some- 
times it seems as though they were a small minority of 
those with whom we come in contact in our business life, 
but such is not the case. The customer who knows it 
all about watches, jewelry and so on (and has looked 
over jobber's lists shown him by jewelers who wished 
him to see what a bargain they will give him in a watch), 
should not be considered for a moment. When you meet 
a man who begins to talk about what he can buy the 
same thing for elsewhere, do not argue with him. As- 
sure him of the difference in qualities which exist, and 
that while you have no knowledge of what he has seen 
elsewhere, you cannot believe that he can buy the same 
quality goods for less money, and that he has probably 
made a mistake. Then tell him if he can trust his 
own. judgment then he is safe in buying where he con- 
siders it to be to his immediate advantage. Such ar- 



168 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

guments will generally land him, but if not, forget him 
as soon as he has left the store. Then there is the 
chronic kicker who always has a complaint to offer, but 
who is way in the minority. There is a sure way to gain 
more of the customers of the average type, and reduce 
the others. Cultivate an independent spirit; one that 
will make people respect you. Be a man. Be the pro- 
prietor and manager of your own store. Treat all com- 
ers alike as regards the price of goods or repair work. 
Also make good all guarantees. Do not, however, allow 
any one to compel you to make good broken parts which 
do not come under your guarantee. Of course, there are 
cases where concessions are necessary, but such should 
be made voluntarily, without coercion. 

We must appeal to the average customer, because we 
must have his trade whether we have that of others or 
not. We cannot depend on the rich alone as the rich 
man does not expect to pay until he gets ready. We 
cannot appeal to the poor man because we will not sell 
him on credit, and he has not always the ready cash. 
The customers we are looking for belong to the great 
middle class, for they buy more jewelry than the rich, 
and they pay for it when they get it. 

The average man is attracted by business conducted 
on fair principles. The store which plainly marks the 
price of each article and sells the article at that price, is 
the store which holds the respect and patronage of the 
average man. A man who is looking at a $10 article 
and offers $9 for it and is promptly taken up, regrets 
that he offered so much and is dissatisfied. Had his 
offer been met with the reply that the policy of the store 
was to treat all comers alike, and that when an article 
was priced, it was priced with the amount which it was 
to be sold for, and that one thing he could depend upon, 
namely, that no man could buy that article for less than 
he ; would it not have resulted in the sale at the full price 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



169 



to a satisfied customer? If a store intends to sell to 
each customer at a uniform price why should it be neces- 
sary to have the price in characters? Does it not more 
surely impress a possible customer with the reliability of 
the store to find that the selling prices are recorded in 
plain figures? 

The average man does not expect to buy goods less 
than cost, and you insult his intelligence when you tell 
him that you sell goods less than cost. Instances could be 
cited, showing where sales have been lost, when nearly 
completed, by such remarks. The average man is fa- 
miliar with the purpose of business and does not expect 
things for nothing. So respect yourself and conduct 
your business on lines which will compel the respect of 
the average man. 




i70 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XLIV. 



THE GOOD WILL OF A BUSINESS. 

Methods by Which a Valuable Asset May be Built Up — 
Courtesy, Thoroughness, Attention to Details and 
Promptness Strong Factors. 

WE often read of one man selling his stock and 
good will to a second man, and the thought 
has often come to me, as to what the value of 
good will is, and the several reasons giving it this value. 
Good will is that part of a man's assets whose value can 
only be estimated and never entirely appreciated. What 
constitutes the difference in two stores in the same line 
of business each carrying approximately the same stocks, 
each situated as advantageously as the other, and 
catering to the same class of trade? Why is it that 
one store is taxed to its utmost capacity to handle 
a constantly growing trade, while the other store has 
plenty of room for improvement? Why is it that two 
men, with equal education, equal capital, and equal op- 
portunities, will arrive at such vastly different stations in 
life? There are certain fixed rules for success, to which 
you can add, but you cannot substract therefrom and be 
equally successful. As a means of winning and holding 
trade (fair dealing always supposed) a man's personality 
enters to a considerable extent. This applies to* propri- 
etor and clerks alike. The same magnetic qualities 
which appeal to men politically also draw and hold them 
in a business way. What constitutes the successful pol- 
itician also constitutes the successful business man. A 
man must know his customers not necessarily by name, 
but he should have his eyes open when passing along the 
street, so that he will not pass by the young man who 
bought the diamond ring yesterday, and feels that he 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 171 



has an acquaintance with the jeweler, and expects to 
speak to you as he meets you. If your attentions to him 
yesterday have made him feel that you were not inter- 
ested in him and his trade, aside from the immediate ben- 
efits to be derived' from the present sale, he perhaps will 
gain the idea that your friendly feeling for him is merely 
a matter of dollars and cents, and may result in his going 
elsewhere the next time. 

It is impossible that a dealer in any of the cities should 
know any considerable portion of his trade by name, but 
faces should be kept track of, for more reasons than one. 
How many thefts have. been committed right before the 
eyes of the jeweler or his clerk, or both, and neither one 
be able to give an accurate description of the visitor. 
The power of observation can be developed, and should 
be. Courteousness to all comers, whether rich or poor, 
educated or simple, influential or otherwise, always pays. 
A man's influence often counts for more than his trade. 
Who these influential ones are is hard to tell. Often 
times the man who is apparently the most influential 
would not think of recommending you to possible cus- 
tomers, while others, pleased at your courteous treatment 
of them, will go out of their way to do you a good turn. 
Diplomacy is another valuable adjunct to a man's char- 
acter. The value of being able not to argue or dispute 
statements made, which are of no considerable import- 
ance to oneself, is inestimable. How often a man will 
take up the cudgel in defence of some political celebrity, 
and thereby offend a possible customer. While believing 
in a man having his pronounced views on all subjects of 
importance in politics, either national or local, the writer 
is deprecating the advancing of these opinions to unwill- 
ing and unbelieving listeners, whose opinions are un- 
changeable, and whose trade may be lost through such 
conversation. 

Thoroughness is necessary to make a business founda- 
tion secure. Haphazard methods bring only temporary 
successes. Attentiveness to business and details is nee- 



172 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

essary. The habit of writing down just what a customer 
wishes about repair work, so that when they call for the 
ring which was to have a new setting or a new band, 
they will not be handed the old ring repaired. We are 
none of us infallible, and the memories of most of us 
are taxed too heavily to stand the continual strain of 
remembering this and that little matter. It is but the 
work of a minute to write down what is wanted, and 
then you have it. So, too, about goods to be ordered to- 
day, and promised to the customer in two days' time. 
They call in for the article, and, by so doing, remind us of 
the fact that we have never ordered it. We do so that 
day of course, but perhaps they forget in their turn to 
call for it, and the sale is lost. A memorandum at hand 
to which to refer and a small card system will obviate 
this breach of memory. 

Honesty, truthfulness and sobriety are all necessary 
to give a store a first-class reputation, and their necessity 
are too well known to need comment. Promptness also 
tends to give a store a run of desirable trade, which other 
stores are unable to control through lack of this. 
Promptness does not necessarily mean doing work any 
quicker than you do now, but it does mean so systematiz- 
ing your work, and arranging its accomplishment in such 
manner, that each job is ready when called for. It does 
not necessarily follow that you must do work while peo- 
ple wait, or while they are down street. Allow a suitable 
time for the work to be done, and have it done then. 
People are not in such a hurry for their work, but they 
like to know when to come to get it, thus saving time and 
energy. 

All of these different habits of individuals tend to 
make up the policies of the store, which creates a certain 
friendly feeling for a store, which is of considerable 
value, but which cannot be set down in dollars and cents. 
A new proprietor of a store, by pursuing the same meth- 
ods, may hold the same trade, or he may by an emtire 
change of tactics, lose the benefits accruing to that store 



EVANS'S ESS A Y S. 



173 



from its conduct by the first proprietor. People trade in 
a store either because of its convenience of location, or 
because of the way in which they are treated. Naturally 
the store with the best location has the advantage, be- 
cause they can also work to hold their trade, but the store 
not so well located can draw its share, if the fame of tihe 
proprietor for fair, square dealing becomes known, as 
it surely does. There may short cuts to success, but 
the good old way is the best and most satisfactory to a 
man's conscience after all. 

In considering this subject it has been my aim to poitat 
out that the good will of your customers is the principal 
thing you should work for, thus building up a friendly 
feeling for a store itself, which makes it desirable that 
a new comer should buy out an established business with 
its good will rather than open up in a brand new location. 




174 EVANS' S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XLV. 



FRIENDSHIP IN BUSINESS. 

How a Friendly Greeting and Kindly Attitude Helps One 
With the Wholesalers — Acquaintances Turned Into Val- 
uable Friends — Courtesy Towards Competitors. 

WE are all apt to place too small a value on our 
friendships, and never realize their importance 
until we lose some of them. Personal friend- 
ships should be cultivated. Acquaintance is not enough, 
"A man to have friends should show himself friendly/' 
Be friendly. One never knows when he may have need 
of friends, — not necessarily to loan him money, but to 
speak a good word in commendation or defense of him. 

We should also strive to so conduct our affairs, and 
govern our words and actions, that we will have the 
friendship of the wholesalers from whom we must ob- 
tain a large share of our merchandise. Be gentle- 
manly to all comers. A man who uses all traveling 
men as though they were interfering with his business, 
and who acts in such a way that they can see that their 
visits are not appreciated, cannot be said to have their 
friendship. They would cease to call upon him if their 
house did not insist. But how different with the jew- 
eler who has a friendly greeting for all comers, and 
who has the ability to send them all away satisfied 
with the visit, whether they buy anything or not. 
Such jewelers receive the best advice which the salesman 
is capable of imparting relative to goods, and the prices 
are generally right. 

Then, too, there is the friendship of our brother jew- 
elers. It pays to stand well with them. It costs noth- 
ing, and does lots of good. How often a jeweler, 
through jealousy, will make remarks regarding his com- 
petitor, that will make it impossible for him to call upon 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 175 

that competitor for the slightest accommodation, even if 
he is sorely in need of that favor. There are various 
ways of courting the favor of brother jewelers, even 
where not acquainted. If you have not in stock what a 
customer is seeking, and they are about to leave your 
store, why not suggest to them that they try Blank's, or 
Smith's. If they go there they will very likely speak of 
the fact that you referred them, and the jeweler so bene- 
fited may have occasion to return the compliment with 
interest. The writer had an incident of "bread cast upon 
the waters" several years ago. A gentleman caller, com- 
plaining about his glasses, mentioned the fact that he had 
bought them at another store, and requesting the writer's 
opinion as to whether or not the glasses were right. He 
was told that the firm he mentioned were perfectly hon- 
orable, and would be glad to make right any errors in 
fitting. He took the advice, and went back to the orig- 
inal place, where the necessary correction was made, and 
the customer satisfied. The customer mentioned the fact 
to the optician that we had referred him back again, and, 
through this one act of courtesy, we were recipients of 
many a referred customer for jewelry from the optician. 

But the jeweler derives most good from the friendship 
of his retail customers. A friendly word spoken here 
and there does worlds of good. One may blow his own 
horn all he pleases, and people will make due allowance 
for all that he says. "Let another praise thee, and not 
thine own self," is good advice to follow, but suppose no 
one praises you. A man must necessarily speak well of 
himself, his business and his business methods, but if he 
can only develop the faculty of making and keeping 
friends, he will have people working for him all the while 
who demand no salary, and whose influence is practically 
unlimited in making sales. 

A good many jewelers and other tradesmen, go to cer- 
tain places, join organizations and churches, for what 
they can get out of them. Such people generally realize 
but little from their misdirected efforts. People are will- 



176 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

ing to serve you, but they do not like to feel that they 
are being used, or that they are valued solely for what 
can be gotten from them. 

Every self-respecting person considers himself of a 
certain amount of importance, and that his friendship is 
worth having. This certainly is true. The retailer 
should consider the light in which he views the traveling 
representative who in his frequent trips is voluble in his 
greeting, but who takes a hurried departure when he 
finds out that there is "nothing doing." How differ- 
ently we view the expected arrival of our friends in the 
wholesale trade with whom it is possible to spend a few 
minutes in conversation regarding current topics. 

It is said that first impressions are the most lasting, 
and we should strive to see that first, second and last im- 
pressions are made to the effect that while we are in the 
jewelry business, it is still possible for us to spend time 
conversing with people, without talking "shop." It is 
no wonder that so many writers discuss the bad form of 
talking "shop." There is a time for everything. We 
should show our friends that we are interested in them, 
in the things that they are interested in, and that we like 
to know what their plans are for their summer vacation, 
or winter trip, or what books they are reading, what 
plays they have seen, and so on. A man, truly, cannot 
depend upon his friends and expect to hold the trade of 
all, but it has been the experience of the writer that most 
friends are willing to give one a chance, but the jeweler 
should encourage the calling of a friend at his store, by 
showing them whatever they are interested in, and not 
urging the purchase. Make it easy for customers gen- 
erally, and friends particularly, to call and look. The 
more people look at your goods, the more goods you will 
sell. Therefore, encourage the lookers. Encourage the 
friendly call, but never allow it to interfere with business. 
A call of a friend will break the monotony of the day's 
work, and your friends by calling will see your stock and 
be able to recommend others, if there is nothing they 
need themselves. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 177 



CHAPTER XLVL 



DO YOUR BEST, AND DO IT NOW. 

An Easy Matter to Acquire the Habit of Carefulness — Don't 
Procrastinate on a Disagreeable Matter — Avoid Slip Shod 
Methods — Good Work is its Own Reward. 

IN whatever you undertake to do, always do your 
best. This should be the rule of every one of us. 
It is an easy matter to acquire the habit of care- 
fulness or the habit of carelessness. Once formed, 
either habit become part of a man's daily life. If 
he has become accustomed to thoroughness, it is shown 
in the manner in which he performs his duties. If 
he is naturally careless it is shown in his conduct 
and in his remarks. "That's good enough." We've 
all heard it and doubtless all used it to a greater or lesser 
extent. When a man finds it necessary to offer himself 
or his fellows an explanation or apology of this sort, he 
knows that the job is not done as it should be. How 
much better to spend a few minutes longer and then tell 
oneself, "That's all right." Both are short sentences, 
but each conveys a world of meaning and of two entirely 
different sorts. Slipshod methods are never productive 
of any good results. It is so easy to put off from day to 
day needed work in various lines, ilf a job is brought 
in which does not strike us as being a desirable one, 
action will be postponed from day to day, until repeated 
calls from our customer will make it imperative to make 
a decided move of some kind. Perhaps we will get k 
from our shop and hand it back with the remark that 
it will not pay to fix, or something of that sort. Or 
perhaps we will go ahead and do a different kind of a 
job from that which was ordered (we in the meantime 
having forgotten the exact orders given), and dissatis- 
faction is the result. 



178 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

If we have a mean, disagreeable job hanging over us, 
let us do as our advertising friends in the magazines ad- 
vise, — "Do it now." It is wonderful how much of a 
load is lifted from one's shoulders by conquering one 
of these jobs. There is only one way to do work and 
have it satisfactory to the jeweler and his customer: That 
is, the right way. If we are not satisfied with a job 
done, we should do it over and thereby "make assurance 
doubly sure," in order that our customer will be pleased. 
It is not enough that the customer offers no complaint, 
or a very slight one, and takes the work along. Some 
people do not like to find fault and would rather take a 
job to another store to have it done over again rather 
than make a complaint. 

What is the result, if a customer does take work, sup- 
posedly done right at your store, to a competitor to have 
it. done over again? Comparison, so natural, between 
your methods and those of your competitor, with the 
odds in his favor will result. The natural inference of 
the customer is that jeweler number two is the more 
competent, whereas the real distinction may lie in the 
habits acquired, one jeweler being careless and the other 
thorough. Their natural abilities being equal, Number 
Two is bound to win out. So often we hear remarks 
that "this job does not hardly suit me, but I'll show it to 
the customer, and if he kicks, we'll do it over." Do it 
now. We none of us like the kickers, but after all is 
said and done, the kickers come pretty near getting their 
rights. The Good Book tells the story of the widow and 
the unjust judge, who finally granted her petition because 
she "troubled him" sufficiently. 

Every jeweler has more or less work which it is neces- 
sary to send to other repairers who make a specialty of 
doing difficult work, and who, by reason of more experi- 
ence with such work, are more liable to have success 
with it. The jeweler who sends his work to such repairers 
does so because he expects his customer to be served bet- 
ter, and as he has to assume the responsibility resulting 
from such jobs, he should insist upon their being done 
right. You cannot afford to lose customers as the re- 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 179 

suit of others' negligence. You should be just as partic- 
ular with such work as you are with your own, but no 
more. Your customer, paying you your price for work, 
demands satisfaction, and it is your business to give it. 
Charge as much as may be necessary to cover the expense, 
but be sure that it is well done. Never tell a customer they 
would not be willing to pay for a first-class job. Always 
talk to customers as though you took it for granted that 
nothing short of the best would suit them, and that the 
expense is a secondary consideration. Every one of us 
has listened to tirades against other jewelers, regarding 
methods and so-called unfair treatment. The wise man 
takes no part in these discussions, but proceeds to learn 
a valuable lesson therefrom. 

While no human being can please some of the people 
we run up against, one can come a good deal nearer pleas- 
ing every one if he does his best. Articles sold should if 
necessary be cleaned up without waiting for a customer 
to request it. So, too, a case given with an article should 
be spotless. Do not think that anything short of the 
best will do. People buying articles often overlook small 
imperfections, but upon later scrutiny these are brought 
to light. If the jeweler has overlooked these, he is 
blameless, but if he has knowingly sold an imperfect arti- 
cle on the theory that the customer will not notice it, he 
deserves any condemnation which they may be pleased 
to bestow. 

The satisfaction of a good deed is often spoken of, 
but it exceeds but very little the satisfaction of a well- 
done job, whether it be of repairing or engraving, or 
any small job around the store. "Be your own boss." 
We see these words in the different magazines encourag- 
ing the young and unsophisticated to invest money in 
businesses they are not acquainted with. But we should 
work so that we will merit our approbation, and if we 
make ourselves overseers of ourselves and can suit our 
taskmasters, we can come pretty near suiting our custo- 
mers. 



i8o EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XLVII. 



HAVE CONFIDENCE IN YOURSELF. 

If You Don't Have Confidence in Yourself, Who Will Have 
Confidence in You — Be Careful How You Make Prices, 
But When Made, Stick to Them. 

" Know then thyself, presume not God to scan, 
The proper study for mankind is man." 

ONE who determines to become an athlete must 
learn just what exercises he must practice in or- 
der to develop certain sets of muscles: one ex- 
ercise perhaps for the muscles of the back, another for 
the chest, another for the forearm, and so on. It is no 
wonder that after years of training we find some men 
so wonderfully developed physically. A professional 
man arrives at his station in life after years spent in pre- 
paratory study, and in acquiring practical experience. 
But what a difference in business life. A man will buy 
a stock of goods and open up in business, sometimes 
without any knowledge of the business, except where to 
obtain his supplies. Jewelers generally are better pre- 
pared than most business men but all are lacking in 
many points. 

To obtain a full measure of success, certain qualifica- 
tions are necessary. Having the qualifications, how are 
we to impress our customers regarding our capabilities? 
By practical demonstration, of course. But how are we 
to obtain the opportunity to demonstrate our abilities? 
We must show by our conversation and actions that we 
are self-confident. People often ridicule the man who 
thinks he knows it all, but they respect him just the same 
for his self-confidence. If you had a case at law, you 
would want a lawyer who had confidence in his abilities 
to handle the case properly. If you had need of a sur- 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 181 

geon you would want one who would go ahead without 
unnecessary delay. People for the same reason bring 
work to you, and, if you appear to understand your busi- 
ness, they leave it in perfect satisfaction that they will be 
attended to in a first-class manner. 

In the sales department knowledge of qualities and 
necessary profits is essential. If a customer asks a ques- 
tion regarding qualities, he should be answered promptly 
and intelligently. If you have confidence in yourself, 
and your buying abilities, and understand the marking of 
goods, you more easily obtain and hold the confidence of 
your customer. A jeweler should always remember that 
people rely more or less on his judgment when they buy 
from him, and that his reputation is at stake when he 
makes statements relative to qualities. 

A jeweler should know what profit he must ask on his 
goods, in order to show a gain after his expenses are 
paid. The actual difference between cost and selling 
price is not profit. The legitimate expenses of the busi- 
ness form a certain per cent, of the total receipts of the 
business, which percentage must be added to the net cost 
of the goods before the profit can be figured. After once 
establishing your price, maintain it. Have confidence in 
your prices. Your customer will respect you and your 
methods more, and you will do business over and over 
with him without his asking for a difference. 

When the bicycle business was at its height the writer 
was one day in a bicycle store awaiting his turn, and 
heard a conversation between the cycle dealer and his 
customer. At that time wheels sold for $125 down. 
This dealer after showing one of the high grade wheels, 
showed a cheaper grade, with the remark, "There's a 
wheel we can sell you for a hundred dollars, or, on a 
pinch, we can sell it for ninety." He did not have con- 
fidence in his price, and so quoted the lower price in the 
same breath. If he made the sale, which price do you 
think was paid? 



182 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

If we should take a glance over any one of the several 
courses in hypnotism, we will learn that before we pro- 
ceed further we must first learn to control ourselves. 
This once accomplished, we can begin to exercise control 
over others. If we wish to obtain the confidence of our 
customers we must first have confidence in ourselves. 
One way to develop confidence in ourselves is to be as 
independent and self-reliant as possible; not independent 
of advice, but having that ability to decide things for 
ourselves. The person of wavering mind, who must nec- 
essarily consult this one and that one before deciding, 
and who is never satisfied then, cannot accomplish much 
in this world. Neither, perhaps, does the hit-or-miss 
style of doing business. A man should consider well his 
business movements, but should learn to depend upon 
himself. Make mistakes if. necessary, but learn through 
mistakes. Try not to make the same mistake twice. 
That is improvement. The too cautious man makes few 
mistakes but accomplishes little. The captains of indus- 
try are those who have had confidence in themselves and 
have gone forward to victory after victory. 

Mistakes made in quoting prices on repair or new 
work form an education valuable in the extreme. If we 
lose a dollar on a job, we'll remember it whenever we see 
a job of like style and will give a price accordingly. If 
a jeweler states a positive price to a customer, the writer 
believes that he should hold to it, even at a loss, as it is 
better to lose in money than in reputation. You may 
never have a similar job to do for that customer, and if 
you do, it is not necessary to do so at a losing price. 

Always talk confidently about business in general, and 
your own in particular. Never express any doubts as to 
the outcome of business. If asked for special discounts 
or terms, and you can refuse and look the man straight 
in the eye, he believes you, that you cannot afford to do 
it. This is confidence. Have that same confidence, in 
yourself. "Virtue is its own reward." 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 183 



CHAPTER X'LVIIL 



LUCK OR PLUCK— WHICH WINS? 

In Most Cases All the Argument is in Favor of Pluck — The 
Man Who Works Hard and Enthusiastically for His 
Employer or Himself Usually Wins. 

JEFFERSON, in the Declaration of Independence, 
held that "all men are created equal." Eighty- 
seven years later Lincoln declared the negro the 
white man's equal, in so far as the rights to liberty and 
the pursuit to happiness. All men, however, are not 
equal. Given the same talents, two men ought each to 
accomplish practically the same amount of work, if en- 
gaged in the same occupations. Two boys, each equally 
bright, each able to learn his lessons, without especial 
effort, and who never fail to rank well on examinations, 
finally graduate and enter business life, each in relatively 
the same position. Twenty years later finds one still 
holding down the same position, while the other is the 
head of a large manufacturing business. Wherein lies 
the difference? Perhaps the man in the smaller posi- 
tion believes that he is a creature of circumstances and 
his friend a child of luck. So often we hear people 
speak of a successful man as being lucky, or that every- 
thing he touches turns to money. Luck very seldom 
places a man above his fellows, while pluck almost 
always does. A man who depends upon luck sel- 
dom amounts to much in the business world. He be- 
longs with the self-satisfied person, who relies on 
his own superficial knowledge and upon being able 
to bluff his way though. Men of this calbre must 
necessarily fail sooner or later. Not so he who is plucky 
and understands that no man pays an employe any more 
or keeps him any longer than his services are worth a 
certain sum more to his employer than what he is paying 



184 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

him. Such a young man, while congratulating- himself 
upon securing a position with a first-class firm, does not 
consider the battle won but just begun. He intends to 
make sure of his present position to-day and of a better 
one to-morrow by being thorough in his work and by 
constantly improving himself. The man who is valuable 
to his employer is he who is competent and who is willing 
to assume responsibility, and he it is to whom the em- 
ployer looks when changes in the personnel of the staff 
makes possible and necessary promotions along the line. 

All of us are anxious for worldly success, in so far as 
the desire is within us to be able to spend large amounts 
in various channels, either in travel to distant lands or 
within our own borders, or in home building, or whatever 
our enthusiasm tends to. But he whose ambition for 
success begins and ends with "ll wish" never acquires 
the success for which he pines. It is he who, while he 
hopes for future greatness, sets about making that great- 
ness possible ; who, while holding a subordinate position, 
by work and study fits himself to fill the advanced posi- 
tion with the attractive salary which he craves. Pluck 
gets the advancement, while luck tarries behind. While 
most of the readers of these articles are their own bosses, 
still the same rule applies to them. It has been said 
"that if a man can do something better than anyone 
else, he can do business in the middle of a prairie." This 
may seem improbable, but it serves only to illustrate the 
importance of thoroughness, which to my mind is but 
the natural result of pluck. The man who* depends 
upon luck is apt: to acquire a procrastinating habit. He 
waits a day or so, expecting that he will feel more like 
it or it will come to him. Pluck manfully tackles any- 
thing. Too many fail through lack of thoroughness. 
Their natural abilities and their opportunities equal those 
of their apparently more fortunate brethren. 

Thoroughness means effort, and this some of our 
young business men are not desirous of making. To- 
day I heard the remark that if we were all millionaires 
we would all starve to death, because there would be no 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 185 



tillers of the soil. All would wish to take things easy 
and merely live upon the interest resulting from their 
investments. So it is well that we have to work to sup- 
port ourselves. 

Some men, however, can work well for others; better, 
in fact, than they can for themselves. Why is this? 
It would seem that a man would work harder when the 
results of his labor went to himself rather than to an- 
other. Is it because a man feels that he has reached 
the summit when he has a sign over a store, with his 
name blazoned upon it, and has a complete outfit of letter- 
heads and envelopes, billheads and statements, and now 
feels that after being confined to certain hours for so 
long he will get down a little later in the morning, take 
a little longer for dinner and supper, and take other little 
liberties with himself which were impossible when he 
was employed by another. These liberties, perhaps 
harmless in themselves, are hurtful in the end, as they 
encourage laxity and carelessness. Then, too, in many 
establishments it would mean a loss of time of his em- 
ployes while he killed time himself. 

A man must have self-respect if he wishes the respect 
of others ; so, too, he must be as faithful to his own in- 
terests as he would to those of another if he would have 
success. People watch you when you are in business 
for yourself. If you are employed by another, it be- 
comes a question of satisfying him, but as your own em- 
ployer you must satisfy the multitude. Many hold aloof 
until the pluck of the new jeweler has demonstrated 
that he is in the field to stay, and then they will bestow 
the patronage which was withheld when most needed. 

Pluck, while convincing one of the positiveness of 
ultimate success, encourages one to persevere in his 
determination to succees, and through perseverance a 
man achieves thoroughness and the ability to await with 
patience the results of his labors and to work while he 
waits. Lack of ability doubtless holds many down, but 
lack of thoroughness and lack of a willingness to win 
success on our merits shuts the door to many more. 



i86 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER XLIX. 



COMPARING NOTES PROFITABLE. 

How the Exchange of Views Among Jewelers May Prove 
of Mutual Advantage — Don't Ignore Your Competitors 
— To Your Friends, Be Friendly. 

(f{~* OMPARISON suits us." How often we hear 
y y those words, or those other words of like 
meaning, "See our goods and compare our 
prices with others before purchasing." Whether or not 
it is because of this continual agitation to compare, we, 
the public generally, unconsciously make comparisons of 
different kinds. We compare this house with that; the 
pavement on this street with the pavement on the next; 
this church and its pastor with its neighboring rival ; and, 
also, we compare this store with the other, and thus 
we will hear a man advised by one friend to have Smith 
repair that French clock, and, later in the day, to re- 
assure himself that he is going to do the proper thing, 
he asks another friend what he thinks of Smith as 
a repairer, he may be told to keep away from him. 
Such comparisons are not always pleasant or profitable, 
but there are ways in which comparison can be made to 
give us necessary assistance. One way is by comparing 
notes with our fellow-craftsman. Of course, as a pre- 
liminary to such comparison, a friendly acquaintance is 
necessary, but this is easy enough to obtain and hold. 

In cities where organizations of jewelers exist, it has 
been found mutually profitable to interchange views on 
different trade topics at the meetings. But it is not 
necessary to await the formation of a jewelers' club to 
begin to compare notes with our tradesmen, ilt has been 
said that jewelers are loath to part with information they 
have acquired, preferring to keep that knowledge secret 
and as part of the assets of their business, believing that 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 187 

others can find out these things for themselves in any way 
that they can. But have these people who figure that 
way ever stopped to consider that perhaps the man sit- 
ting next to them, feeling friendly and cheered on to do 
it, because of the first man's generosity in imparting 
valuable information, may go him one better and doubt- 
less tell him something worth dollars to him? 

It is a good habit to form of dropping in to see our 
competitors occasionally, as it gives an opportunity to 
correct false impressions regarding our methods of hand- 
ling and treating customers, or reported statements said 
to have been made by us regarding our competitors. 
With some dealers (who, perhaps, are not acquainted 
with you) the fact that a customer says that he can buy 
a certain kind of watch from you for a less price than 
is asked by your competitor, will result in permanent cut 
in price of that article and the creation of a bitter feeling 
toward you. If you are in the habit of dropping in once 
in a while to see him, he will feel well enough acquainted 
to ask you whether or not you sell goods at such and such 
prices and an opportunity will arise for comparisons and 
a strengthening of confidence in the prices quoted. 

Another important feature not to be overlooked is the 
fact that friendly competitors are enabled to ask questions 
of each other which, asked by an unfriendly one, would 
be deemed intrusion or undue curiosity. For one thing, 
the man who is not acquainted with his competitor, and 
whom we will designate as A, will see in B's window a 
line of goods which he (A) does not carry in stock. 
From time to time he will notice them, and, perhaps hav- 
ing a call or two regarding same, will decide to put in 
a line, fondly imagining that he is going to get his share 
of that business, and that B will not have it all. But 
if he were on terms of conversation with B, and could ask 
him in regard to the sale of those goods, he perhaps 
would find that it was a dead line and would save himself 
the folly of an investment. In this way he would save 
many dollars as the profits of his brother jeweler's ex- 
perience and advice. "A man to have friends must show 



i88 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

himself friendly," so a man who wishes to learn must be 
also willing to impart. Business conversation is not wast- 
ing time. Whatever will help you make yourself a bet- 
ter business man and to run your business better, be it 
large or small, is profitable usage of time. Improving 
oneself is a satisfactory occupation and we can all stand 
it. 

There are other comparisons equally profitable. Com- 
paring the appearance of our store with another either 
will encourage us regarding its condition or will stimulate 
us to improve its appearance. Then, too, the habit of 
having records at hand regarding the previous year's 
business, so that if things appear slow, we can easily 
refer back and perhaps find that we have either made a 
substantial gain or are still holding our own, or that the 
falling off is scarcely worthy of notice. 

Then another valuable comparison is that of goods 
bought from different concerns. While the writer does 
not advocate the judgment of a concern or its prices from 
one or two articles, yet, if different houses have their 
different leaders it is to our advantage to take advantage 
of them. The more businesslike you are, the more you 
are respected by all and the better your credit will be. 
There are some things the small dealer cannot well emu- 
late about his larger competitor, because of the expense. 
He cannot take large spaces in the newspapers to tell his 
tales of the wonderful fairyland existing at his store, 
and with beautiful goods, only waiting for some one to 
come along and produce the medium of exchange to ob- 
tain possession of them. He cannot distribute flowers 
and potted plants; he cannot have afternoon band con- 
certs. But he can follow the big concern in attending 
to customers promptly ; in answering promptly and cour- 
teously, out-of-town inquiries regarding goods ; answer- 
ing letters from his creditors; paying bills promptly, if 
he has the money, or notifying his creditors when he 
expects to have the money. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 189 



OHAPTER L. 



EVILS OF PROCRASTINATION. 

The Habit of Postponing Jobs of a Trying Nature is Easy 
to Acquire and Hard to Shake — How This Applies to 
the Jeweler— "Do it Now." 

44 T^RQCRASTINATION is the thief of time." 
How familiar this saying is, and how true! 
Ajnd yet, how few there are who thoroughly 
realize it. We often read of misquoted proverbs, or 
twisted proverbs, hut in more cases the meaning rather 
than the wording is misunderstood or changed. It is 
an easy matter for two' men to read articles, and each 
one put a construction on it differing greatly from the 
other. Regarding procrastination, one should consider 
whether his burden is lessened or increased by prac- 
ticing it; whether the putting off to some more con- 
venient time, jobs of disagreeable or trying nature, does 
not increase our load ; because, in addition to the final ac- 
complishment of the work, there also looms up before 
our mind's eye the continual vision of the necessity of 
its accomplishment. Are we gainers or losers by pn> 
crastinating ? The habit is an easy one to acquire, and 
a hard one to shake. We hear so many, when called to 
do a job, answer, "in a minute." Why not come at once. 
"In a minute" is but the forerunner of "I'll attend to that 
to-morrow." 

We should reason with ourselves thusly: If to-day 
we are so busy that we feel like yielding to the tempta- 
tion to put a few jobs over until to-morrow, and if to- 
morrow may bring with it more and maybe harder work 
to do, and we put over a still larger amount of work for 
the second day following, when, for goodness' sake, will 
we ever catch up ? The consciousness of unfinished work 



190 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

hangs over one like Damocles' sword, which we are told 
was suspended above his bed by a single hair or thread. 
"Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown/' and so also 
does the head of the procrastinator. There is no satis- 
faction in leaving for home early, when we know full 
well that there will be numerous claimants for our atten- 
tion staring us in the face when we arrive in the morn- 
ing, and haunting us during the quiet hours of the night. 
Such thoughts are necessarily confined to the business 
man who has the welfare of his establishment at heart, 
and who cannot forget the way that he left things when 
he started for home at night. 

When we see how easy it is for us to fall into the habit 
of delaying about attending to affairs, it is no wonder 
that the writer of magazine advertisements brings his 
eloquent plea to a close with a gentle reminder to "Do 
It Now." We need to have that firmly impressed upon 
our minds, and it would be a good idea to have a sign up 
over our desks to that effect. The writer had this sub- 
ject suggested to him by his own intention to put over 
work for another day, which took but ten minutes' time 
to accomplish. Once done, it requires no further worry 
or thought. Our energies are ready for onslaughts in 
other directions. A few unimportant matters may so 
weigh us down that our minds are not free to grasp op- 
portunities or solve problems which demand the very best 
that there is in us. 

When you receive a package of goods by express, or 
select from the traveler's stock, lose no time in placing 
these goods in stock. The sooner this is done, the sooner 
you will begin to sell them. Unopened packages in your 
safe or drawers filled with desirable goods, unmarked 
and unseen, will fail to bring even one dollar to the till, 
but the same goods, marked and placed promptly in the 
show-window, may result in many sales before others 
have begun to get ready to show the same lines. Of 
course, circumstances alter cases, and it may be impos- 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 191 

sible to attend immediately to such matters, but we 
should make it a rule to have all goods received marked 
and in stock, within twenty-four hours after their arrival 
in our store. A job promised for to-day should be got- 
ten ready as early in the day as possible. Have your 
word good as your bond. Disappointed customers mean 
dissatisfied customers, disgruntled customers, disagree- 
able customers. By avoiding the folly of procrastina- 
tion, we avoid meeting many of these customers of the 
"dis" variety. 

Then, too, every store takes in a certain amount of 
work which must be sent away. Either because of the 
kind of work, and the store's inability successfully to 
handle it, it must be sent away, or because of the fact 
that the goods are comparatively new, and must needs 
be sent to the factory. In either case, to ensure its early 
return, prompt action is necessary. If we hold the job 
for three or four days before sending it away, perhaps, 
in the meantime, the customer will have called, in an ex- 
pectant manner, and left in a disappointed manner. 
Then we will take the same time as would have been 
originally required to do the job, and will send it away, 
and eventually receive it back, in the meantime putting 
the customer off from day to day. All this might have 
been saved by prompt action on our part. Do it now. 
Then it's off your mind. 

You have a letter to write, which will take consider- 
able thought and planning about its contents. What do 
you gain by putting it off? Perhaps the final recipient 
of the letter is awaiting its receipt with interest or 
anxiety. 'Twill take no longer now to do it than it will 
to-morrow. Do it now. Keep your work well in hand 
and under control. Then you can diive your work, and 
not have it drive you. 

System is the cry of the age, and it is well that it is so. 
The habit of doing things in a systematic manner, once 
cultivated, simplifies to a great extent the work of con- 
ducting a business, be it great or small. 



192 



EVANS'S ESSA YS 



If we could all come to a realizing sense of the fact 
that we do not gain anything at all by putting off from 
day to day work which should be done at once, we will 
have accomplished the first step necessary in reducing 
the evil of procrastination. 

If you have to see a man on a disagreeable errand, bet- 
ter do it at once. You'll not feel easy until you have seen 
him. Perhaps the job will not prove as bad as you an- 
ticipated. Anticipation is generally greater than realiza- 
tion. Make yourself another business motto, and live up 
to it. "Do it now," and everything will move along 
easier and better than before. 




EVANS'S ESSAYS. 193 



CHAPTER LI. 



FORCE OF EXAMPLE. 

As Everybody's Example is Followed by Someone, Ours 
Should be Good— The Proprietor Should Set His Em- 
ployes an Example of Thoroughness, Punctuality, Cour- 
tesy and Industry. 

WE little know of how much importance our ac- 
tions are in influencing others. We all of us 
have an influence which we can exert for good 
or ill, as it pleaseth us, but aside from that and indepen- 
dent of it is the effect produced by our actions, whether 
at work or play. Each man has his model or ideal of 
what he would like to become. Sometimes a man will 
make as excuses for his own misconduct or shortcom- 
ings, that so and so does the same thing. The man 
spoken of may be the one whom he has chosen as his par- 
ticular guiding star in the pathway of life. The man 
spoken of must stand well in the community or he would 
not be brought up as citing an instance. When we were 
attending school, there were certain men whom we inad- 
vertently selected as our own particular heroes. Wash- 
ington and Lincoln had places in the lists of all. Daniel 
Webster was my particular hero, and yet one would prob- 
ably fall short of the mark of perfection were he to fol- 
low Webster in all things. His gigantic intellect pre- 
cludes our following him into the realms of oratory and 
debate, but perhaps we could adopt some of his failings 
easily. We should take care that our examples set for 
others to follow are good ones. 

This applies particularly to those who are men of au- 
thority, men who have others under them, whether it be 
one man or a hundred. The example of the boss about 
many things will be watched and followed. This will all 



194 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

have its effects on the store system. If the employer ex- 
hibits signs of laxity in management, it will mean a sim- 
ilar laxity on the part of each employe, thereby greatly 
diminishing the efficiency of the store for trade-winning 
and trade-holding. The personality of each employe of 
a store reflects to the public outside the character of 
the store. A store well kept up, and well conducted, will 
have a large percentage of its trade because of the con- 
fidence customers feel in the store, and because of the 
worth of the store's name on the box or case given with 
the article purchased. Some people trade at one partic- 
ular store because they believe they can buy cheaper 
there, but most people trade at a store because of good 
treatment and confidence. We should cater to the latter 
class because they merely wish to receive value received 
for their money, and expect that one will make a profit 
on the transaction. 

Let us illustrate the power of example of an employer 
to his employes. The boss is seated at the bench when a 
customer enters. Perhaps he turns around to see who 
came in, or perhaps he glances into the glass in front of 
him. In either case he continues at his work, leaving the 
customer standing awaiting his pleasure. Perhaps his 
discourtesy to the customer leaves the latter time to think 
about it, and when the jeweler gets around to waiting 
upon him, instead of asking to see the article he intended 
to he will make some trifling inquiry and leave, going at 
once to another store. Granted that the jeweler could 
not immediately leave the work which he was doing, he 
should either call another clerk, or ask the customer to 
please wait a minute or two, when he will wait on him. 
Clerks notice how the proprietor attends to customers 
and easily adapt themselves to his methods. So, we find 
some stores, that if a customer enters, he may have to 
wait until a clerk finishes a conversation with a friend or 
one of the other clerks, before he can be attended to. 
The writer, not long since, stood in a store with three 
others ahead of him, waiting for the clerk to finish a con- 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 195 

versation over the telephone, which conversation was of 
a personal nature and could have been finished later. 

Then again, a proprietor, manager, or foreman, who 
is thoroughly in earnest, and who places a time limit 
upon himself for arriving at the store, for leaving the 
same, and the length of time he will take for meals, and 
living up to the same, will encourage the same habits of 
diligence among his employes. Few employes there are 
who will take more from their employer in the way of 
absences from the store, than he allows himself, because, 
for very shame's sake, if for no other worthier motive, 
they will keep pace with him. Then, too, clerks serve 
more faithfully the man who is faithful to his own in- 
terests, because of the fact that he knows how they are 
working; knows just who are most faithful to his inter- 
ests, and whom he should promote when there is oppor- 
tunity to do so. 

It is a good deal more satisfactory for store help to 
hear the proprietor say, "Come boys, let's clean up, to- 
day," rather than "Get at this job, and see how quick you 
can get it done." A hard working boss can accomplish 
more and get more out of his help than a hard driving 
boss. Therefore a man who wishes his help to live up 
to certain rules must himself adopt the same code. If he 
wishes them to be on hand promptly in the morning, let 
him be as prompt. Whether he gets down as early as 
they or not, the time he sets should be lived up to. If 
he wishes them to be truthful, he should be so also. And 
so we might go through the list of necessary qualifica- 
tions for business success. It has been well said, "If you 
wish a thing done, send some one, and if you wish it 
done well, do it yourself." If a man does not do the 
work in his own store, he should know whether a job is 
done right or not. It is not necessary that he look over 
every job every night, but he should occasionally do this, 
as it will encourage the habit of thoroughness among his 
help. In all factories inspectors of the work are neces- 
sary. This is realized thoroughly, and men are well paid 
for doing nothing else. 



196 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER LIL 



MAKING A SALESMAN. 

Some Interesting Thoughts Regarding the Qualifications 
Necessary for Success in Selling Goods — Experience, 
Study and Tact Will Help the Salesman Materially To- 
ward Success. 

/ / X^ QETS are born, not made." Salesmen may 
happen in the same way. Some men and 
boys are certainly born salesmen, because 
they are able, without special preparation of any kind, 
without educational or conversational acquirements, with- 
out knowledge of men or affairs, to sell goods. Such 
salesmen are born such, but there is a question whether 
salesmen of this type ever rise to any important position. 
In this day we hear many arguments, pro and con, re- 
garding the value of a college education to one who 
expects to engage in business, but it seems to me that, 
all other things being equal, natural abilities, habits 
and SO' on, the man who- is the best educated will win out 
easily. Each man may know just as much about the im- 
mediate business in which he is engaged as does his com- 
petitor, but that is not the whole of it. In calling upon 
trade, or in conversing across the counter in the retail 
jewelry store, much conversation must be carried on 
which is of a desultory character. Topics of the day are 
discussed by customers in a store, and one should be able 
to express himself intelligently on them. If one does not 
appear to wish to talk except about his own business and 
what he has for sale, many customers will feel that your 
interest in them is only so far as you expect to get money 
from them. We are all of us after the almighty dollar, 
but we should be able to look further than the end of our 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 197 

noses to obtain it. We should all of us exert ourselves 
to create and maintain a favorable impression with all 
who meet us, even in an informal way. We little know 
when we will need a good word spoken for us, or who 
among our friends and customers may be the first to have 
the opportunity to speak it. That man who was in your 
store to-day, and acted as though he thought all jewelers 
were highwaymen in their charges, may, after leaving 
your store, converse with a man who perhaps has been in 
your store, but who has never spent a cent in it, but has 
formed a good opinion of you from general conversation 
with you. Because of this favorable opinion, he is able 
to put the intending buyer in the proper frame of mind 
to again call upon you, and then you are able to complete 
the job which you set out to do in the first place. 

There is one way in which all of us can improve our- 
selves, and by such improvement make ourselves better 
salesmen. That is to have a better knowledge of our 
goods ; the ability to distinguish qualities, and to be able 
to point out differences in goods, which will account for 
differences in prices. Then, too, if we are familiar with 
the goods, we will be able to answer questions asked by 
inquisitive people who wish to know what they are buy- 
ing. Then, one can also talk in such a clear, concise 
manner that many questions will be unnecessary. How 
cheap it makes one feel to be asked questions regarding 
one's own goods which one cannot answer. Granted, 
that many people will ask fool questions which no one 
can answer, all questions are not of that character, and 
of whatever kind they are they should be answered ac- 
cordingly. 

Then, again, some customers have very little to offer 
in the way of conversation when looking at goods. This, 
then, makes it necessary for the salesman to know when 
to talk, and when not to. It is an easy matter, compara- 
tively, to maintain a discreet silence, while a customer is 
talking, but he is wise indeed, who knows when to main- 
tain silence, and give the customer time to meditate. 



198 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

Then again, one should not try to force his opinion as 
to just which article is the prettiest, because, he may not 
strike the one which the customer has inwardly decided 
upon. In conversation with a cut-glass salesman lately, 
the topic of varying tastes was introduced, and he said, 
that he had found tastes to differ to such a degree that, 
when showing his line now, he never singles out any par- 
ticular piece to speak of its beauty, but speaks in general 
terms regarding the entire line. This, he said he had 
found to be the best method, as perhaps his taste would 
differ so much from his customer's, that the latter might 
think he was trying to unload upon him undesirable pat- 
terns, or goods which had not sold as well as others. 
Sometimes, however, if one can notice a customer lean- 
ing toward one particular article, and can say just the 
right word, the sale is consummated. 

One should endeavor at all times to improve himself. 
We are told that it is impossible to stand still. We must 
either advance or retreat. None of us wish to go back- 
ward. We all wish to earn more money rather than less. 

Whether we work for ourselves or for others, we must 
use all possible means for developing our selling powers. 
The power of convincing a customer as to the several 
reasons why it is to his interest to purchase at your store 
in preference to others. Our persuasive powers can also 
be developed. The same methods which make the suc- 
cessful politician can be emulated by the seeker after suc- 
cess in the business world. Do not antagonize a cus- 
tomer. Make him to see things in your light, through 
persuasion rather than argument. 

While correspondence courses are now offered in every 
line of work, including salesmanship, yet experience is 
the best teacher after all. But we can all of us profitably 
spend a half-hour weekly, perusing the trade papers 
which come, together with other business and advertising 
magazines. Whether you can agree with all the state- 
ments made in the articles does not matter. It makes 
you think to read articles relating to your business, and 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 199 

the more you think the more apt you are to improve 
yourself along" the lines which promise most to you in 
the way of financial returns. Some men are satisfied to 
run a little store, which shows no signs of improvement 
as the years go by. They are satisfied with a small in- 
come, believing that the difference is made up in being 
one's own boss. Not so, however, the progressive mer- 
chant. He is working each day with interest, with en- 
thusiasm, and with industry, trying to make each week, 
each month, and each year, surpass in financial returns 
the similar periods in years that are past. Progress and 
improvement are the watch cry of the age, and one must 
either keep abreast of the times, or he soon becomes a 
"has-been" in the business world. 




200 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER LIU. 



THE PROPER USE OF TIME. 

If "Time is Money," We Should be More Careful of Our 
Expenditure of Time — Systematize Your Days as Much 
as Possible — Devote Some Time to Reading and Some 
to Relaxation. 



<rr 



IME is money." We hear this quotation often, 
and doubtless each of us has used it on more 
than one occasion. The expression is all right. 
Although used so frequently, it is doubtful if we realize, 
that it is as true as anything can be. Time is money to 
the man who is busy, and is anxious to learn and im- 
prove himself Time is money to the business man and 
to the professional man. Time is money to the labor- 
ing man, even more so than to any of the others. The 
late Speaker Reed once brought out this truth in a 
political address, when he said that a laboring man must 
sell to-day's labor to-day, or it is forever lost. It is dif- 
ferent with the business or professional man, because if 
he loses a day, perhaps the next day will be so much bet- 
ter than the average that the lost day will be made up. 
But we should consider the fact that he who accomplishes 
most in life is he who is the busiest. We often hear it 
said that if you want a thing attended to, get a busy man 
to do it, because of the very fact that he is so busy he 
must so plan his time that he has time for doing every- 
thing he undertakes to do, whereas, the man with little 
on his mind develops the bad habit of slackness, and 
therefore does not attend to the little which he has to do. 
If we realize that time is money, we will become more 
careful in our expenditure of time. We generally o-i V e 
some thought to our expenditure of money, because our 



EVANS'S ESS A VS. 201 

resources of that character are limited, but of our time, 
of which each is given the same amount, we are careless 
in the extreme. The story has been told of one of our 
American humorists, who had stopped at a hotel for sev- 
eral days, and when his bill was presented to him, he in- 
formed the proprietor that he was out of funds, but that, 
as time was money, and he had plenty of time, he would 
willingly stay at the hotel as many days as the proprietor 
thought wouid reimburse him for the bill. In an instance 
of that kind, time is not the same as money. 

How many people are there connected with the jewelry 
business who are trying, in any manner, to make them- 
selves better business men and betted educated men than 
they have been? How many of us take the necessary 
amount of outdoor air and exercise which we should 
in order to keep ourselves in good shape. We have 
been informed by Osier that a man is a has-been at 
40, and should be chloroformed at 60. There have been 
numerous arguments as a result of the assertions, and 
many instances have been cited to show that men well 
advanced in years, many of them over 80, have been a 
power in the world of business, finance and politics. Nev- 
ertheless, it seems to me that while a man accomplishes 
most perhaps after the age of 40, and he has not until 
then reached a point where, from past experience and long 
study, he is qualified to give advice and lead great move- 
ments, yet he must have prepared himself for all this in 
the years and years previous. If we expect to accom- 
plish anything in this life, let's get about it now. 

We should endeavor to divide our time in a proper 
manner, setting aside a certain portion of each day for 
reading and a certain part for exercise, and a certain part 
for being at home or attending the theatre or other place 
of amusement with our families. Reading is necessary, 
as a man penned up in a little store by himself becomes 
narrow, and he needs to read of the outside world and its 
doings, because it broadens him out and shows him that 



202 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

he is but a small atom in this whirling mass of human 
beings. There is a time for everything, if we have sys- 
tem about our work. A man should work while he does 
work, and when he is away from work forget it for the 
time being. 

There are courses of reading such as the University 
Extension and like courses, which suggest certain lines 
which one may read, and pursue an intelligent course of 
reading. These, together with our great public libraries, 
our Y. M. C. A.'s, our churches, our fraternities and our 
clubs, all offer means of relaxation from the cares of busi- 
ness, and while we are taking a needed change, we are 
also helping ourselves and others. 

We sometimes hear small business men say that they 
cannot spare time from their business to take this trip or 
that, or attend a convention, or anything at all which will 
take them from their stores. Such men should read of 
the journeys of a man like J. P. Morgan, whom all rec- 
ognize as a leader and a power in the financial world. 
We read of his trips abroad and of his purchases of this 
or that; now a painting, and again some novelty in the 
way of bric-a-brac, which perhaps he presents to some 
museum of art. This merely illustrates that a man needs 
relaxation of his mind. The buying of such articles 
forms a pastime with him. Men of this class return to 
their labors with renewed vigor and renewed enthusiasm. 
We who from force of circumstances are compelled to 
keep to work day in and day out should devise methods 
for giving us needed change, without taking expensive 
trips. The world moves and we should move with it. 
We hear nowadays that young folks expect to start in 
where their parents leave off, and also that what were 
luxuries years ago are necessities now. A few years ago 
houses equipped with modern improvements were her- 
alded as such in newspaper advertisements, but now it 
is unnecessary to speak of it. People are educated now 



EVANS'S ESSAYS 



203 



to expect these improvements, and houses go slow which 
are not so equipped. 

Our own business is constantly advancing, and jewelers 
everywhere are striving to secure advantages over their 
competitors by having the best possible fixtures, and the 
finest window arrangement and display of which they 
are capable. All this makes it necessary that you, and 
each of you, shall be up and doing. "Hitch your wagon 
to a star." Strive after great things. Wish for them. 
Expect them. But while you do these things, endeavor 
to improve yourself along the lines which count for most 
in obtaining this world's happiness. Success obtained by 
the forfeiture of the ability to enjoy oneself is failure. 



204 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER LiV. 



TACT AND DIPLOMACY. 

A Soft Answer Turns Away Wrath — Do Not Make Sarcastic 
Remarks — Do Not Discourage "Lookers" for Looking 
Always Precedes Buying — The Handling and Adjusting 
of Complaints. 

THE handling of customers in a retail jewelry store 
is a fine art. A great deal of tact and diplomacy 
is needed, and he who possesses these in the 
greatest degree will achieve the greatest possible suc- 
cess. A man may be a born diplomat, but if not he can 
train himself so that he will become one. Of course it 
is a hard matter of fact to make a diplomatic reply to a 
remark which would ordinarily be met with a sharp an- 
swer, but one can 'become accustomed to giving a concili- 
atory reply. ''A soft answer turneth away wrath," and 
if one can become habited to making a conciliatory an- 
swer to remarks, he will find that he will save himself 
a great deal of annoyance, and also save the possible loss 
of a customer. Some people consider themselves rather 
facetious or humorous, and make remarks for fun which 
they do not really mean. Of course, it is a difficult mat- 
ter to sort these things out, and to be able to discrimi- 
nate between the intentional insult and the jocular one. 

Then, too, a jeweler is apt to get bright, and talk in a 
manner which, while it will demonstrate that he is a 
witty fellow, will not sell goods. Then there are people 
who, while ever ready to crack a joke at some one else's 
expense, can never see one which applies to them. A 
jeweler or other storekeeper will do well therefore, to 
confine his remarks to business, to descriptions of his 
goods and their many excellencies, of course being able 
to carry on his end of the conversation on other subjects, 



EVAN S'S ESSAYS. 205 

but ever remembering that he is where he is to sell goods, 
and minister to the other wants of his patrons where 
they coincide with his abilities to do so. 

An article in one of the trade papers speaks of the 
fact that many jewelers dislike to show goods where 
there is no immediate evidence of a forthcoming sale, 
and treat such lookers cavalierly. No matter how long 
some men will conduct a store, they never seem to realize 
the axiom that "looking always precedes buying," and 
while we all like to see buying immediately follow in all 
cases, this is not possible, because many people will start 
out on an afternoon's shopping tour, without a cent in 
their pockets, excepting car fare home, and while many 
storekeepers denominate such people as "lookers" only, 
and condemn them, still, if we will notice, we will see 
that such people are possessed of nearly everything that's 
going, which shows that either they do sometimes buy 
something, or else that they make their wants known to 
those who do the buying. In either case, it demonstrates 
that the jewelers should use tact in handling such people. 

A favorable impression made by the goods and the 
prices can be entirely obliterated by some remark made 
by the jeweler, because the customers are leaving with- 
out purchasing. Have everyone leave your store in a 
satisfactory frame of mind. You have spent your time 
in showing the goods, then do not undo the work by a 
remark such as the writer heard was made in one jew- 
elry store. A lady had called on several occasions at a 
certain store, and each time called for articles which 
either the jeweler did not keep, or his stock did not offer 
sufficient selection to suit her. When leaving upon her 
last visit to the store, the jeweler told her that perhaps 
it would be as well if she did not come in again, as he 
never seemed to have what she wanted, and she appeared 
to be so hard to suit. His wish was complied with. But 
he made a business error, as well as acted in an ungen- 
tlemanly manner. When any one enters your store to 



206 EVANS' S ESS AYS . 

look at goods, it is because of a favorable opinion of you 
and your goods. That this is so, none can disprove, be- 
cause it is either because they are considering making a 
purchase from you, or else they wish to make compari- 
sons between your goods and some others. Either way, 
it shows that they consider your store a store of satisfac- 
tion, and an effort should be made to so handle such 
callers that a good impression is made, so that they will 
feel friendly to your store, and a sale may result at that 
time or in the future. 

Then again, when we hear people condemn another 
jeweler, if our own judgment does not tell us to main- 
tain a discreet silence, or explain away any wrong im- 
pression which the customer has which is unfavorable to 
our competitors, our tact should tell us that it is a good 
chance to make an impression upon our caller for fair 
mindedness, and a desire for fair play. People gravitate 
back and forth from one store to another, and in the 
course of time repeat different remarks heard in other 
stores. Now why not cultivate the habit of speaking 
well of everybody. It is not necessary to lay it on too 
thick. 

Then again tact is needed in handling and adjusting 
complaints. It is needless to say, that most of the com- 
plaints in a jewelry store are both trivial and unjust. 
But in disposing of them, we should consider the time 
it will take to do the job and the length of time it will 
take to argue about it. In most cases the easiest and 
quickest way to dispose of such complaints is to tell the 
customer to leave it and you will see that it is all right. 
This does not mean to allow oneself to be imposed upon. 

Tact is also necessary in the handling of the credit de- 
partment of a business. Some people you are perfectly 
willing to trust, and if so do it, but if it is your intention 
to extend credit do not quibble about it. Then, too, if 
you do not wish to give credit, it can be refused without 
telling the customer that you do not think he would pay. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS 



207 



Business is business, and no man will take offence at a 
refusal of credit, if it is put to him in proper shape. 
There should never be any hesitation, however, in one's 
answer. If you are in doubt whether or not to trust 
a man, it is a safe rule to follow, not to trust him. 

Some people maintain that they admire a man who 
always says what he thinks. This may be true when he 
thinks of some one besides ourselves. Tact realizes that, 
it is not necessary to tell all we know or think about any- 
thing or anybody. Remember that we are here for bus- 
iness, and should try to adopt such means and methods 
as will tend to build up our business. 



208 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER LV. 



CULTIVATE A SPIRIT OF CONTENTMENT. 

How Our Neighbor's Condition Seems So Much Better 
Than Our Own — If We Knew All the Facts Perhaps It 
Would Seem Different— A Plea for "the Simple Life"— 
Advantages of the Retail Jewelry Business. 

THE other fellow's job generally appears more de- 
sirable than our own. It seems as though things 
come his way without especial effort. While 
there are many of our friends whom we consider more 
fortunate than ourselves in the selection of a calling, still 
we all know that to the average person the jeweler 
represents a wealthy personage, and so we will find 
that there are many who think that we are in an en- 
viable situation. People take it for granted that, in- 
asmuch as jewelry is to them an article of luxury, 
and only indulged in with spare cash, therefore, he who 
engages in the sale and repair of such goods must be 
surely possessed of great wealth, or at least of a compe- 
tence. Many jewelers will smile when they think that 
people speak of them in this way, but it is certainly true. 
Each knows the drawbacks and disadvantages of his 
own business, and, seeing others apparently care-free, 
while he is careworn,, he thinks that the fortunes of war 
are against him. We know that it is natural to speak 
encouragingly about our business or our positions, and 
that each one puts his best foot forward, according to 
the old saying. We have all stood in one field or pas- 
ture, and noticed the scanty growth of vegetation, while 
in the adjoining acreage there is evidence of a luxuriant 
growth, but it only takes a hundred yards walk, and the 
climbing of a fence, to discover that the second is like 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 209 



unto the first, and that to our eyes, then, the first pasture 
will appear to be the most desirable. 

Half the world does not know how the other half lives. 
Perhaps if we did we would not be so envious of other 
people and their positions. People do a great deal some- 
times to keep up appearances, and do as others do, when 
they cannot really afford it. Others, seeing them, think 
that they must have had some money left to them, or else 
Smith has had his pay raised, or he is doing more busi- 
ness, lln order to keep up with them, others go the limit 
of their credit and pocketbooks, and then results a num- 
ber of dissatisfied and unhappy people; dissatisfied, be- 
cause they imagine that what costs them a great effort 
is handled with ease by their friends; unhappy, because 
of their unpaid bills. If people were true to themselves, 
there would be less of this waste of money, and a feeling 
that other folks are better situated than ourselves. 

"Contentment is better than great riches," and is a for- 
tune in itself. "Know then, thyself." Study yourself 
and your store. Strive for improvement. Have your 
store looking well. Make such changes as you can at 
little or no expense. Improvement does not necessarily 
mean throwing out your fixtures and buying new. There 
are many little things one can do to improve his condi- 
tion. If your competitor appears to be more successful 
than you are, study his methods. Remember that the 
number of people who enter a store does not show the 
amount of business done. Neither does the mere state- 
ment made by a competitor. Some people would make 
a bluff in any kind of a game, even in the game of busi- 
ness, and right here let me say, that it pays to put on a 
good front. Make people believe that you are doing a 
good business. You cannot always size up the number 
of sales your competitor makes from the number which 
you lose. Many people are chronic "lookers," or love to 
contemplate awhile before making the final decision to 
buy. Many others, lacking confidence in their own 



210 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

judgment, will spend time running to this store and that, 
and thinking between whiles. Give them something to 
think about. Make remarks which mean something, 
and which illustrate your familiarity with the goods 
which you sell. Be satisfied with your present situation, 
but work to improve your business and your surround- 
ings. There is a vast difference between discontent and 
ambition. The man who is merely discontented with his 
position in life accomplishes but little. But he who is 
satisfied with his position, — until he can do better — and 
who strives to be worthy of greater success, he it is who 
generally accomplishes something in the world of busi- 
ness. There is danger, however, in self-satisfaction; 
danger of falling into a rut, from which it is almost im- 
possible to extricate one's self. The advice, "if you 
can't be easy, be as easy as you can," is suggestive of the 
advice, "if you cannot be successful, be as successful as 
you can." And so, when we think of the other fellow 
and his job, let's remember that all is not sunshine along 
his pathway, and also, that he who wins the greatest 
measure of success generally is worthy of it. Once in 
a while we see dishonest men apparently succeed, but 
such success is generally but temporary, and if lasting is 
obtained by a forfeiture of those things which go the 
furthest toward making this life worth the living. So, 
if the other fellow makes more money than we do, per- 
haps he does not obtain as much satisfaction therefrom 
as you, yourself, from what you have. 

One should cultivate the habit of enjoying oneself, of 
relaxing our minds and bodies ; of forgetting, as it were, 
the fact that we are business men. The man who be- 
comes so wrapped up in his business, or enlarges his bus- 
iness to such an extent that he cannot forget about it for 
a moment, or dare not be away from it for fear of pe- 
cuniary loss, does not enjoy himself; is not happy. 
Whilst he is earning the money, his family perhaps have 
developed the spending habit, and are able to enjoy 
themselves, but he cannot. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



211 



Then do not let us envy our many millionaires because 
of their plenty. Wealth itself has its drawbacks. Every 
man's hand is raised against you, and who can you call 
your friend? The jeweler, after all, is pleasantly situ- 
ated. He is in a business which is nice and clean ; where 
it is a pleasure to work ; where he can earn money doing 
repairing, during the intermission between customers ; 
where he is not so driven but that he can make occasional 
trips into the country in summer, and to the theatre in 
winter. He is also at home, where he meets his family 
daily, and where he is near his friends. There are many 
businesses where more money is made than in the jew- 
elry business, but there are none more congenial, or 
where a man is better able to develop his best side, if 
he so desires. 




212 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



CHAPTER LVI. 



POINTERS ABOUT STOREKEEPING. 

Be Alive, Act Busy, Don't Lag, Be Independent, Be Syste- 
matic, Be Thorough, Be Sober, Be Truthful, Be Honest, 
Be the Best Business Man You Can. 

BE alive. If you are conducting a jewelry store, 
be alive. The time has gone by, long years ago, 
when a man merely opened a store and waited 
the arrival of customers confidently, but occasionally was 
disappointed. That was in the "good old times" when 
no one advertised and everybody stood equal. It was 
also in the primitive days of store window displays. To- 
day, a man opening up a store must work harder than at 
any previous time to obtain and maintain his business. 
Each individual storekeeper is alive, and is hustling all 
the time to hold his own customers, and incidentally to 
take yours, because each wishes to have his business in- 
crease year after year, and no one considers where this 
increase is to come from. If you are increasing your 
business, you are perhaps gaining ground in your com- 
petitor's country. To-day, no man can count his cus- 
tomers on his fingers, and say that he sells them 
anything and everything which they need in his line. 
Through advertising and show window displays, people 
become familiar with the goods, prices and methods of 
stores, which under ordinary circumstances, a score of 
years ago, they would not. So we find that people drift 
around, as it were, not through any dissatisfaction about 
your goods, your prices or your treatment of them. So 
if we wish to hold our own, to say nothing about in- 
creasing our business, we must "Be alive." 

Act busy. This is a good motto, and one whose ad- 
vice is easily followed, about a retail jewelry establish- 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 213 

ment. He who cannot find work to do about a jewelry 
store must be indeed an artful dodger. Look about you 
for five minutes and jot down a few things which you 
would have done if you had some one else to do them 
for you. Your goods need cleaning and polishing; a 
few clean cards would not be amiss, and perhaps the tags 
on your watches and rings are shrunken and faded to 
such an extent as to make it a difficult matter to read 
the figures intelligently. Your show cases, which are 
perhaps cleaned outside several times a day, occasionally 
need cleaning inside, and so we might go through our 
store in this manner. The boxes on the shelves; the 
clocks and silverware in your wall cases, all accumulate 
dust and should be dusted often, because it does not en- 
courage people to buy when they notice a salesman 
blowing the dust from each article as he takes it down 
to show. Have things to suit yourself and they will suit 
others. If you are ashamed of the way things look, 
"Get busy." Shakespeare never spoke more truly than 
when he said, "To thine own self be true, and it must 
follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false 
to any man." 

Don't lag. Don't loiter. Neither allow any loafers 
or loiterers around your store. Nothing will sooner kill 
business than to have people lounging about a store, 
with nothing in particular to do, and who notice every- 
thing that's done, and everything that's said. People 
of a retiring disposition will not enter a store where 
there are people standing around. Then, too, these 
loiterers take the time of clerks to entertain them. The 
loss from such visitors cannot be estimated. Clerks 
should be instructed to continue their work, no matter 
who enters the store, unless it is their business to wait 
on the trade, and if these unprofitable callers are not 
held, as it were, they will soon learn that their calls are 
unappreciated. 



214 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

Be independent. Run your own business, but always 
remember that you depend upon the public for support, 
and that without their support, you cannot profitably 
conduct your business. Never feel that you are sacri- 
ficing your independence when you try to please a cus- 
tomer who is dissatisfied about something. 

Be systematic. Acquire the habit of doing things 
promptly. The small details of a business, handled sys- 
tematically, are not the burden which some men make 
of them. Letters, which need to be written, and which 
we know about in the morning should be written at that 
time, rather than be set aside for the last half-hour of 
the day, on the theory that they will arrive at their des- 
tination just as quickly as if written earlier in the day. 
Perhaps other letters may need to be written at that 
time, or other important matters may come up needing 
our attention, or we may be busy waiting upon custom- 
ers, or looking over a traveler's stocks, and perhaps the 
consciousness of unfinished work may make us so ner- 
vous and disagreeable, that we may hurry the customer 
from the store before the purchase is made, or we may 
pass by desirable goods in the traveler's stock, and send 
him away thinking we are slow, and that it is hardly 
worth his while to call upon us. 

Be thorough in all things. Be prompt in all things. 
Be on hand, on time, and leave on time. Have your 
work ready on time. Be truthful, be sober, be honest. 
In fact, to ensure business success, one must walk in a 
very narrow path. He must be a real man. One upon 
whose word you can depend. All business is a matter 
of confidence. Even the man who "knows it all" relies 
upon your word regarding the goods you sell. At least 
he depends upon you to make good any defects which 
may become apparent later on. Be strict regarding 
goods which you buy. See that they are right, or, if 
not, return them to the makers. It is the duty of a 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 215 

storekeeper to do this, because the manufacturer should 
furnish perfect goods, as he charges for such, and any 
dealer is doing himself and his customers an injustice to 
palm off goods which he knows are not what they should 
be, rather than file a complaint, or take the trouble to re- 
turn the goods. The retailer is the one who suffers if 
he does this. The manufacturer intends that goods 
shall leave his factory in perfect condition, and, unless 
advised to the contrary, assumes that they do. Better 
results will follow all along the line if retailers will insist 
upon goods being shipped in proper condition. 

Be the best business man that you can. Strive for 
success, and make yourself worthy o>f it. Have perfect 
confidence in yourself. Talk your business up. Never 
get discouraged. Finally, "Be alive." 




2i6- EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER LVII. 



THE FOLLOW-UP SYSTEM. 

Always Remember Prospective Customers — Follow Up In- 
quiries Where Purchases are Not Made, by the Letter 
System — Do Not Forget Customers on the Second Call. 

THOUGH repairing always has been and always 
will be the mainstay of the retail jewelry s'tore of 
moderate size, still the selling end of the business 
is the branch which enables the jeweler to accumulate 
money and stock. Repairing is all right, but the most 
which we can hope to do is to pay expenses with it. To 
make a profit we must sell goods. There are various 
means of stimulating business about which the writer has 
written before. Our advertising and our show win- 
dows are trade winners and trade holders. So, also, 
are wide-awake jewelry salesmen, and we all have a 
poor opinion of a salesman who is not wide-awake. 
Most salesmen who are working for their employers' 
interests do their utmost to makes sales' while the cus- 
tomers are in the store, but after they leave some im- 
mediately forget about them. There are some customers 
whom it is a pleasure to forget, and whom it is necessary 
to forget if we wish to accomplish anything in the way 
of selling goods. Some people are so hard to wait on 
that they almost discourage one about his business. 
But all callers are not of this calibre. Most of the callers 
in a jewelry store are either the middle or upper class of 
people. Now, then, if a customer calls at your store and 
looks at an expensive piece of jewelry or silverware, or a 
watch or diamond ring, and does not at that time make a 
purchase, or even a decision regarding purchasing, but 
who is leaving without coming to any conclusion to buy, 
either then or later, at your store, but who intends to look 
around, shall we drop him from our thoughts, or shall we 
keep him in our mind and try to make the sale at a later 
date? 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. . 217 



When a customer enters your store it demonstrates 
clearly that he considers your store a satisfactory place 
to do business- You have only to satisfy him in style and 
price to consummate the sale. We advertise all the while 
to get people to come and look, but when we do get some- 
one to call and look at our goods we should endeavor to 
complete the sale. 

In some branches of business people buy the day they 
look. This is not always so in regard to jewelry pur- 
chases. The writer classes the selling of jewelry as be- 
ing practically the same as selling goods by mail, and 
requiring almost a similar follow-up system. In this day 
of card systems it is decidedly easy and inexpensive to 
adopt a systematic way for following up your inquiries. 
The names of many of your customers you know; the 
names of others can be casually inquired by making some 
remark regarding their familiar appearance, or as to 
whether or not they reside in the city. Few there are 
who resent such questioning, and in this way many names 
will be secured. Write the name of the customer and 
also the name of the article or articles he was looking at, 
on a card, and file it away in the daily index, about ten 
days ahead. When that day comes around, behold, it is 
recalled to mind that Mr. So-and-So was in looking at an 
expensive watch ! You then write him a friendly letter, 
reminding him of your willingness and your desire to 
serve him, and, if he has not already bought, requesting 
him to favor you with a call before purchasing. A 
slight allusion to the watch, and a few words relative to 
the value of a good watch, may accomplish much good. 
File the card away a month ahead, and if you have not 
heard from him meanwhile drop him another letter. This 
method of following up inquiries has made the mail order 
business what it is to-day- If the mail order houses re- 
lied upon the orders received in direct response to their 
advertising they could not continue long, but all they 
want is to know your name and to know that you are in- 
terested in a certain line of goods. Knowing these 
things, they will take' care to keep you informed of their 



218 EVANS'S ESS A YS 

whereabouts, and in perhaps three cases out of five they 
make the sale, often at an earlier date than the inquirer 
intended- People seldom look at goods which they do 
not contemplate buying, either then or later. People like 
to feel that they are of sufficient importance and their 
trade sufficiently valuable so that you remember them 
and ask for their trade. If, however, you write to cus- 
tomers regarding articles at which they have been look- 
ing, and speaking (as you can from the memoranda made 
at the time) as though you remembered them, for gracious 
sake, try to remember them when they come in in re- 
sponse to your repeated letters. It is a good idea to men- 
tion in the letters the name of the salesman who waited 
on them and request them to ask for him when they call. 
This divides the responsibility, as each clerk will have 
only his own customers to remember in this way, and 
there are not so many of them to whom letters would be 
sent but what it can be done. 

My reason for advocating this follow-up letter is this: 
The customer who calls at your store and leaves without 
purchasing, presumably to look around, will, in a course 
of an hour or so, hear much technical talk and descrip- 
tions of different kinds of cases and movements and dif- 
ferent reasons for difference in prices. All this leaves 
him very much confused; but after a few days along 
comes your letter, stating in concise terms the kind of 
watches, you sell, and asking the opportunity to again 
show your goods and make such explanations as he may 
desire. As the prosecuting attorney has the best end of 
the summing up, so, too, does the jeweler who, after all 
have spoken their piece, drops a letter containing his sum- 
ming up of the case. 

Of course, it would hardly pay to go to this trouble 
for a small sale, but it is a plan which costs but little and 
may accomplish a great deal. If you are willing to spend 
money advertising on the chance of attracting a possible 
customer to your store, be willing to spend a little more 
to follow up the possible customer and possibly make the 
sale. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 219 



CHAPTER LVIII. 



THE TREATMENT OF CUSTOMERS. 

Guard Against the Selling of Inferior Goods — Use Consid- 
eration of the Customer's Statements — Make Your Store 
Attractive — Confidence is the Watchword. 

WE should occasionally stop to consider the reasons 
which attract us toward one store, and away 
from another. The same reasons which enter 
into our likes and dislikes govern the opinions of others. 
In the grocery line some people trade where the prices ad- 
vertised are low ; cheapness is the governing power with 
them. Many others trade with certain grocery stores 
as a matter of convenience; they trade at the corner 
grocery, whatever locality they may live in. With 
others, the governing power is quality. They trade 
at one particular store where the practice is to charge 
high prices, but never to send anything out which is 
not first-class. All these different reasons have weight 
with different people. Then others will trade at a certain 
place because they are acquainted with the proprietor, or 
one of the clerks, on whom they can depend to see that 
their order is filled correctly and promptly and delivered 
at the time specified. 

These are a few reasons for trading in grocery stores. 
The jeweler does not touch the life of the family as close- 
ly as the grocer, but there are occasions when the jeweler 
must be consulted, and then it is that the same process of 
reasoning and consideration is gone through with, before 
even starting from the house to see about making the pur- 
chase. The jewelry store is a necessary adjunct to every 
community, and is called into service for each one of the 
"Seven Ages of Man," from the presents for the new- 
born baby to the golden and diamond wedding annivei* 



220 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

sary presents. All have more or less occasion to visit 
the jewelers with more or less regularity. 

One thing that jewelers should guard against is the 
selling of cheap goods for babies. Many people try to 
economize on the present for the baby, but the jeweler 
should keep himself out of it. The family to whom the 
present is given know where it was bought, but not the 
price paid, and if its wearing qualities are not satisfactory 
will hold you personally responsible. As such recipients 
in the course of time become purchasers of sundry arti- 
cles, we should endeavor to hold their good will by sell- 
ing nothing to anyone which you cannot conscientiously 
guarantee to give satisfaction. 

Customers rely upon the jeweler's judgment, and he 
should never allow them to make a purchase of an article 
which he does not believe will give them satisfaction. 
Neither should he have such goods in his stock. In fact, 
the jeweler should protect his customers from dangers 
of which they know not. Some writers argue that we 
should sell the people what they want. To a certain ex- 
tent this is eminently fitting and proper. But because 
people have formed erroneous ideas of the price they 
should pay for an article from reading an advertisement 
of a department store, should we allow them to buy from 
us such goods as we know are unreliable? 

So much for the kind of goods to sell. Perhaps treat- 
ment of customers personally, as we meet them over the 
showcase, has as much to do with making and holding 
their trade as any methods, however expensive, we -may 
try. We are familiar with the Fels Soap ad., "costs lit- 
tle, does much." So it is with politeness. A gentlemanly 
consideration of a customer's statement, of whatever char- 
acter, does much to disarm anyone who is predisposed to 
find fault. Then, too, the ability to assist a customer in 
describing what they really wish is an art. It is not 
pleasant for a customer to be made to feel that they are 
calling articles by incorrect names. When a customer 
asks to be shown certain articles, using an incorrect name, 



EVANS'S ESSA YS. 221 



it is not only unnecessary but poor salesmanship to cor- 
rect them. It is not always wise to air one's superior 
education and knowledge before customers. Salesmen 
should remember that their business is selling, not in- 
structing. Sometimes, however, the customer can be set 
right by the salesman showing them what they have incor- 
rectly asked for, and telling them several uses to which it 
can be put, and stating the trade name for them. People 
do not resent this, but to be bluntly told that they do not 
know the proper name of what they wish to buy often 
offends. 

Customers are of two* sorts : those who have confidence 
in the dealer and those who have confidence in no one. 
Each customer needs careful handling; the first, that we 
may keep his confidence; the second, that we may be en- 
abled to impress upon his mind that we can make more 
money from selling him right goods at right prices and in 
right ways, and by holding his trade and that of his 
friends, on future transactions, than by selling him one 
article and taking advantage of him, even though the en- 
tire amount of the sale be clear profit. Some people are 
used to being swindled. They act the part and make 
known their suspicions so 1 plainly that many storekeepers 
do not feel that they are doing anything out of the way to 
swindle them a little or sell them some out-of-date article. 
This makes it all the harder for the honest merchant who 
believes in the equal standard for all. All comers should 
be treated alike. The high ; the low ; the rich ; the poor ; 
all should merit and receive the same kind consideration. 

If you can once gain the confidence of one of these kind 
Of customers he will go out of his way to serve you. 
Some dealers go on the theory that your friends should 
pay the highest prices, iln conversation with an optician 
one day, he informed me that for a certain piece of work 
he charged his regular customers 35 cents; but if it was 
for a stranger, and he had reason to believe that they had 
had the same work done before elsewhere, he charged 
but 25 cents. Other instances might be cited. This op- 
tician did not stop to figure that as the customers of other 



222 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

stores came to him occasionally, perhaps his customers 
might drift elsewhere, and, finding that they had been 
steadily overcharged, even so small an amount as ten 
cents, might never return his way. Another illustration 
might be cited to show the effect of little matters, which 
customers sometimes magnify in their after relation. A 
customer entered a store where they sold brass wire and 
asked for a certain number of feet of it, which the dealer 
told me afterward was worth about three and one-half 
cents, but which he told the customer was five cents. The 
customer complained that the price was the same as he 
had paid for about three feet more when bought previ- 
ously. It is certainly the little things which count. And 
it is the little things in the running of a business which 
either make it or ruin it. 

Try to make your store as near as possible like the store 
where you like to do your trading. Notice the little things 
about your favorite trading places which attract you there, 
and adopt them to your own use. 



EVANS'S ESS A YS. 223 



CHAPTER LIX. 



THE ART OF LETTER WRITING. 

Go Over Each Letter a Second Time — Send Matter Regard- 
ing Different Subjects Separately — Be Careful What You 
Write — Keep Copies of Letters and Orders. 

WE can all write in our own peculiar way; some 
good, some bad, and some indifferent. This 
as regards handwriting. But good or bad 
handwriting does not make a good or bad letter writer 
out of one. A practical knowledge of grammar and' 
spelling is necessary to compose a good letter. Many 
sentences are ambiguous and capable of different con- 
structions. Proper capitalization and punctuation enable 
us to make our meaning clear and distinct. It is far 
better to make our sentences short, and even abrupt, 
than to try to handle long, unwieldly sentences, in which 
it is difficult to keep subjects and predicates, with their 
governing adjectives and adverbs, in entire unity of pur- 
pose. Phrases and clauses may add to the beauty of the 
sentences, but they often lead us astray in finishing up. 
And perhaps, we have written something which will be 
Greek to the recipient. 

Every man who writes letters, owes it as a duty to his 
fellow man that his letters be entirely legible, either be- 
cause of his handwriting or by aid of the typewriter. In 
personal letter writing, if our handwriting is poor, and 
our sentences puzzling, it merely aggravates our corre- 
spondent and destroys the pleasure which naturally fol- 
lows the receipt of a friendly letter. But a business let- 
ter which has evidently been hurriedly written and not 
re-read, often omits the very words which are necessary 
in order to have the merchandise order promptly and 



224 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

properly filled. A wholesale house, which receives a 
number of letters and orders each day, each one demand- 
ing prompt and careful attention, cannot afford to spend 
time deciphering poorly written or incomplete letters. 
Brevity in business letters is certainly commendable; but 
brevity should not be the controlling idea when writing 
a letter or an order. Say enough to clearly convey to 
your correspondent your thoughts and desires, so that he 
may thoroughly understand what you mean, and what 
you want. 

The habit of re-reading letters is a good one to acquire. 
In writing, the mind travels faster than the pen, and of- 
ten in thinking ahead, we may unconsciously skip a 
word or two which may perhaps be vitally important. 
In careful re-reading these omissions will be brought to 
light, and the necessary corrections made. 

Another matter we should consider is the inadvisabil- 
ity of too freely expressing our opinions when unduly 
excited, caused by being angry or aggrieved over some 
real or fancied injury. If one were in conversation with 
the person to whom he is writing, a freer expression of 
one's opinion would be possible than in a written com- 
munication. A letter containing a complaint should be 
worded with great care. President Lincoln once in- 
structed Secretary Stanton to write a good, strong letter 
to some one whose conduct had displeased our govern- 
ing officers. After the letter was written, and Stanton 
had read it to the President, he was surprised to receive 
the instructions to destroy the letter instead of sending 
it. President Lincoln's theory was that he (Stanton) 
reduced the pressure on his nervous system by writing 
the letter, but saved his self-respect by not sending it. 
"He that conquereth his own spirit is greater than he that 
taketh a city." 

Every important letter should be copied, so that we 
may have a complete record of our correspondence. 

How embarassing it is, when offering some complaint, 
to be met with the assertion that goods were not sent as 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 225 

ordered; or, in accordance with our written request, and 
not have at hand the means of proving or supporting 
our claims. And how much confidence we derive from 
the knowledge that we have referred to letters received, 
and our letters written, before making any claim or 
charges. 

Letters enclosing checks should specify what bills we 
intend to cover, and what deductions from the face of 
bill have been made. With this information carefully 
set down, it is a simple matter for the recipient to make 
proper comparisons or figures. Blank forms for remit- 
tances are handy things to have, and by the printed por- 
tions suggest to us the proper parts to fill in to make the 
matter clear. It is a first-class idea, when sending a 
check, to have it fully cover one bill, or several in full. 
Many send money on account. This leaves a lot of fig- 
uring and "jangling" at the final settling up. 

In ordering goods it is best to use a regular order 
book. You will then enter things systematically and 
have a copy of your orders. It also simplifies matters 
for the recipients, and makes the matter of filling your 
orders comparatively easy. 

One matter in particular tht writer deems worthy of 
notice. Some people advocate the combining of letters, 
orders, etc., intended for one firm, either in one letter or 
under one envelope, on the theory of postage saving. 
The writer, believes however, that it is better to send 
things under separate cover, thus insuring proper atten- 
tion to each part of it. A letter with a check, and with 
an order at the bottom, will be opened, and, the check 
meeting the eye, all else will generally be forgotten, as 
the natural supposition oftentimes will be that the letter 
contains nothing but explanatory matter regarding the 
check. Perhaps later in the day the order may be dis- 
covered, or, perhaps it will go over for a day or two. 
Separate matter under separate cover is immediately re- 
ferred to the proper department and is promptly at- 
tended to. Economy is proper in many departments of 



226 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

a business, but it hardly pays to practice it in our post- 
age department. 

Postal cards should not be used for anything impor- 
tant; because no one pays much attention to a postal 
card. If it is worth while writing a communication, it 
is generally worth while putting it under cover, and cer- 
tainly it receives greater attention when received at the 
other end of the line. 

To sum it all up, let's write carefully and legibly; re- 
reading each letter before mailing, and making neces- 
sary corrections. Keeping subjects of entirely different 
kinds separate from each other. Keeping copies of all 
letters and orders given. Send checks to cover certain 
bills, rather than to apply on account. Be careful what 
we write so as not to give offense. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 227 



CHAPTER LX. 



A BUSINESS BUILT ON HONOR. 

Some Philosophic Arguments in Favor of Conducting One's 
Business on the Highest Ethical Plane— Such a Com- 
mercial Attitude Will Pay in the Long Run. 

A FEW years ago one of the leading bicycle manu- 
facturers used the expression, "Built on Honor" 
to illustrate the care and honesty of purpose 
which they used in the manufacture of their bicycles. 
These words are short and simple of construction, yet of 
What deep meaning ; they are easily and quickly said, but 
their meaning is not always considered or understood. 
We talk of a man's honorable career in business after 
his death, and yet sometimes we mistake a successful 
career for an honorable one. A man may have con- 
ducted a business long and honorably, but without suc- 
cess. This does not always follow. The natural se- 
quence of an honorable career is success. When we 
glance about us at our neighbors, we cannot conceive 
of many of them doing a dishonest deed for gain, but 
if all business men are honorable in their dealings, why 
do we find so many suspicious customers? Perhaps 
clerks in their anxiety to sell make statements which 
are untrue, to say the least. Many customers are 
unreasonable in their demands and expectations. They 
are looking at a cheap plated chain on which the manu- 
facture has very cheerfully placed a printed tag, guaran 
teeing the same for twenty years. What is the retail 
jeweler's duty in this case? Shall he allow his customer 
to purchase a chain of this character with the idea that it 
will wear that length of time, and hope that he will lose, 
it before it wears off, or is it his duty to either leave such 
goods out of stock, or detach all tags of mislead- 



228 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

ing nature, and sell the chain with the statement that it 
will wear two or three years? My opinion is that the 
latter plan is the best for the jeweler. Naturally you 
will have to talk more to sell a three year chain for a 
couple of dollars, than you would to sell the same :hain 
under a twenty year guarantee for the same price. But 
it is worth the time it takes to convince a customer of 
the right methods of doing business. It is because peo- 
ple are naturally greedy In their expectations regarding 
the wearing qualities of jewelry, that manufacturers 
have been led to make extravagant guarantees regarding 
the wearing qualities of goods. The writer understands 
that manufacturers using these guarantees stand ready 
to polish or replace articles returned to be made good, 
but the trouble is that every dissatisfied customer does 
not return to complain. He merely throws the article 
away and buys another — somewhere else. A business 
built on honor means more than merely giving the right 
change back. It means treating each customer, however 
humble or ignorant, as though they knew all about goods 
and values, and selling "right goods at right prices in 
right ways." 

A customer enters a store, and after looking at differ- 
ent articles finds one to his liking, and inquires the price. 
The price perhaps is more than he figured on paying, and 
he asks if that is the best price, and is informed that it 
is, but, as he makes preparations to leave, lo, the dealer 
suddenly discovers that he can sell it for quite a little 
less. What effect does this have on the customer? Does 
he accept the man's word, beyond question, in future 
transactions? Does it not encourage him in future 
dealings, to button up his coat, and get ready to leave, 
firmly believing that he will be called back? Honor re- 
quires that the price marked on the article shall be the 
selling price. 

"Built on Honor." One of our duties as honorable 
business men, is to advise people, according to our best 



EVANS'S ESS AYS . 229 

judgment, and the knowledge accumulated in the years 
of our business career. People will bring in articles for 
repairs which are not worth the cost of repairing, or they 
wish them repaired in a cheap way. We should advise 
them rightly even if it is against our own immediate in- 
terests. 

Honor requires that we deal honestly with our cred- 
itors in all ways. We will not lie to obtain a lower price 
than the quoted one. Many times one will make claims 
through mistaken ideas, but that is entirely different. 

We will charge stated prices on goods and repairing, 
and charge the same to all ; giving special advantages to 
none, and taking special advantage of none. 

A business built on honor is built on an everlasting 
foundation, if the principles upon which it has been built 
are rigidly lived up to. A store, established years ago, 
and conducted upon honor by its first proprietor will 
have built up around it a large clientele of satisfied cus- 
tomers, which the succeeding proprietor inherits, and 
can hold if he follows out the ideas and methods of his 
predecessor. But how often we see an old established 
business sold out to a new man, who will run it into the 
ground inside of a year. Courtesy and cheerfulness are 
valuable adjuncts to a man's personality, but he can do 
business without them, if he is building his business upon 
honor. How pleasant it is to have people rely upor 
your honor to such an extent that they never question 
either price or quality. Customers of this sort are not 
gained without effort. They are the people who trade 
in one place for everything in that line which they hap- 
pen to need, until, either because of some dissatisfaction, 
or because of some attraction in your show-window, 
they enter your store. Much depends upon the first im- 
pression. They are still thinking of their regular place 
of trading, and involuntarily compare your ways with 
your competitor's. So, when a new customer enters 
your store, be ready and willing to spend, if necessary, 



230 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 



an unusual amount of time in explanations, because .if 
once convinced of your trustworthiness, you have ob- 
tained not only one sale but possibly many. 

"Honesty is the best policy," but it is hard to argue 
against yourself. It is much the same with a legislator. 
Matters are brought up of which he neither knows or 
cares, and a bribe is offered, which he accepts. So, with 
the jeweler. His customers are willing to pay ten dol- 
lars for a watch worth fifteen dollars. He cannot sell 
them that, but he can sell them an inferior case for the 
lower price, and satisfy them for the time being. But 
honor requires that we take advantage of no man's igno- 
rance, and that we should give the customer the benefit 
of our experience. So we may occasionally lose sales,, 
but in the long run honor will win, and besides a mai^ 
feels better if he does business right. 







EVANS'S ESSAYS. 231 



CHAPTER LXI. 



RELATIONS OF EMPLOYE AND EMPLOYER. 

Troubles Not Frequent in the Retail Jewelry Business — 
Some Principles of Give and Take Which Should Con- 
trol the Actions of Both the Proprietors and Those Who 
Work For Them. 

IN these days we read continually about labor troubles 
of various kinds ; about" the differences between 
capital and labor, and employer and employe. 
Many men are unreasonable, and do not try to under- 
stand matters, or there would be fewer troubles of this 
kind. The retail jewelry business, from the fact that the- 
employers are generally bench men and capable of do- 
ing their own work, and because of the few employes 
compared with the number of establishments, has been 
kept free from strikes of different kinds. But to obtain 
the best results for both employer and employe, there 
must be a united effort. Each must realize and recog- 
nize that he needs the other in order to accomplish the 
greatest and best results. There must be a willingness 
to give and take a little on both sides. 

While the employe of a retail jewelry establishment 
perhaps earns less than the same skilled labor in other 
lines, yet he is employed year in and year out, with no 
loss of time, while many other trades have to put up with 
several "lay-offs" during the year. So the employe 
should make allowance for this fact in summing up the 
advantages and disadvantages of his position. 

The employer should appreciate faithfulness in his 
employes by paying such wages as he can afford, and 
granting a week's vacation with pay, or by allowing a 
few separate days to each employe. Men will work bet- 
ter for those who show their appreciation and their hu- 
manity. Give a man a chance to recuperate once in a 



232 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

while. The early closing of stores in the cities during 
July and August is becoming more and more general. 
This benefits both employer and employe, and, where a 
general closing is brought about, it is accomplished with- 
out loss to the proprietor. 

Our interests are indeed common. What benefits one 
benefits the other. If we could all come to a realizing 
sense of the fact that our interests are mutual, and that 
we cannot hurt the other without injuring ourselves, 
much good would result. 

Naturally, we are all anxious to succeed, and to obtain 
the highest salary or greatest profits possible. The best 
way to do this is not for the employer to pay the smallest 
wages which he can possibly get help for, but to pay 
such wages as will enable him to keep good men in his 
employ. For the employe there is no surer way of keep- 
ing his salary down than to try to do as little as possible 
for it. Many go on the theory that they are doing as 
much as they are paid for. This may be so, but, as has 
been said, and well said, too, the man who never does 
more than he feels that he is paid to do, will never be 
paid more. This is true reasoning. If a man is paying 
a certain salary to an employe, and he does no more than 
he is paid for, why should that salary be increased? 
But if that employe puts in a few extra licks, and makes 
his extra value apparent to the employer, the time will 
be short indeed before his salary must be increased, 
either by his present employer or by some other. Then, 
again, the habit of doing a little more than the allotted 
work is a good one to acquire, because, in assuming a 
position where more money is paid, it will probably fol- 
low that extra work will be required, and if one has ac- 
quired the habit of keeping busy, this will work no hard- 
ship whatever. But if one has been used to doing as 
little as possible, and assumes a new position, he may 
not be able to hold it. 

So, if we are working for our own interests, we as 
employers must consider our employes and be fair with 



EVANS'S ESS A YS . 233 



them, paying them what they are worth, and allowing 
them an occasional day off* or a week off in the summer, 
with pay. As employes, working for a betterment m 
wages, we must guard our employers' interests, and 
work for them, endeavoring to make sales if we wait on 
the trade, or doing the best kind of work if our place is 
at the bench, because, if business does not warrant it, 
we cannot expect an increase in our pay. 

Too often we look at things from a one sided view- 
point, and cannot see where the interests of employer 
and employe coincide. Employers who< have in their 
employ good, honest, hardworking, painstaking men, 
should be willing to pay such men what they would have 
to pay others as good to take their places, besides the 
trouble of rinding such men. Employes pleasantly sit- 
uated should well consider whether the place with the 
slightly increased pay is apt to prove as congenial a 
place to work in. Some men have such a faculty of 
making things unpleasant, that a man would earn his 
pay twice over working under one of them. 

All these different matters need to be well considered, 
and the faculty of being able to give and take in the con- 
duct of a business, and the working in such an estab- 
lishment, will prevent dissatisfaction. Employers should 
not necessarily wait until their employes have offers 
from others before coming to the front and making an 
increase, because if granted under pressure, or the fear 
of losing them, it does not receive the same appreciation 
as if given voluntarily. If given compulsorily, the man 
has a right to assume that you have known right along 
that he was worth more, and he will regret not having 
asked you before, and he will be dissatisfied over this. 
Given voluntarily, it comes as a pleasant surprise. 

In our conduct, therefore, as employers and employes, 
let us take for our motto the Golden Rule of "doing unto 
others as we would that they should do unto us." Em- 
ployes, do not be afraid of overdoing in the amount of 
work. Employers, do not be afraid to reward merit. 



234 EVANS'S ESSAYS 



CHAPTER LXII. 



KNOW YOUR GOODS AND STOCK. 

Beware of Failure to be Familiar With the Various Articles 
You have to Sell — A Noticeable Bewilderment Injures 
Your Chance of a Sale — Try to Sell Peopie What They 
Want and Not What You Want. 

OF course, all men engaged in conducting business 
consider themselves to be thoroughly familiar 
with that business and the stock of goods which 
they carry. This is, however, an error, because we will 
find that when we enter one store and ask for a certain 
article before it is found several hurried conferences 
of employes and much searching is required before the 
article will be brought to light. This does not mean 
that the article is dirty and dusty but oftentimes it 
means that the articles received fresh from the fac- 
tory are placed where they are not immediately seen 
when inquired for. We all know where to look for 
watches or rings, scarf pins or cuff buttons, and staples 
of this kind, but there are certain novelties of various 
kinds which one buys, for which there is no steady de- 
mand, but which are asked for occasionally. While it 
is impossible for us to remember everything we have for 
sale, yet we should charge our minds with the necessity 
of remembering as much as possible, not only what goods 
we have in stock, but where to look for them. 

Then, too, the knowledge of whether or not you havt 
certain goods in stock saves the time of the clerk and 
the customer. "He who hesitates is lost." We have all 
noticed the bewildered look of some clerks when asked 
for certain goods, and we all know the effect it has on 
us, and it has a like effect on our customers when we 
assume the same air. To be met with a prompt answer, 
"Yes, sir, we have them. Step this way, please/' or, 
"We do not carry them in stock. Is there something else 



EVANS' S ESS A YS. 235 



which we can show you?" leaves *the customer with the 
impression that you know your business. But to have 
a clerk say, "I think we have them," and then spend ten 
or fifteen minutes scouring around, and then have to say 
that they haven't them, or finally bring them to light, 
leaves the customer with the idea that either the article 
asked for is not popular or else that the store is not up- 
to-date. In either case, it is apt to act to the disadvan- 
tage of the jeweler. Then, again, to know our goods 
makes necessary that we make thorough inquiries re- 
garding them from the seller, so that we may be able in 
turn to ask any inquiries made by our customers. 

At holiday time many stores are compelled to press 
into their service extra clerks, many of whom are totally 
unfamiliar with the jewelry business and the different 
qualities of goods sold and handled by a jeweler. They 
sell the goods for just what they appear to be to the in- 
experienced eye. So we hear occasionally of gold-filled 
cases and gold-filled chains being sold for solid gold, 
and other like errors. Such mistakes are doubtless un- 
avoidable, but the regular employes of a store should be 
so trained in the handling of goods that they can cor- 
rectly describe the various articles which they have on 
sale. Then, again, so many customers in their purchase 
of an article, or in its consideration, become very curious 
to know its various characteristics and all about its com- 
ponent parts. To display one's ignorance at such a time 
is apt to prove fatal, so far as the sale is concerned. 

The salesman should at all times command the situa- 
tion. While gracious in imparting information, he 
should also convey the impression that he knows a great 
deal more, and that his knowledge is the result of experi- 
ence, and that his judgment and advice are trustworthy 
and valuable. Some people, no matter how long they 
are employed in a store, do not seem to become familiar 
with the stock to any extent. All stores carry in stock 
goods which are only called for occasionally, but which 
are part of the stock and which the buyer evidently ex- 



236 EVANS'S ESS-AYS. 

pected would be saleable. It is the familiarity with the 
stock which enables one to reach for these articles 
promptly and confidently and display them and quote 
prices with a confident air, which goes a long way toward 
making the sale. 

The writer has often been told, while showing goods, 
that the same inquiry made in another store brought a 
blank look to the jeweler's face, whose manner indicated 
that he considered the request preposterous. Then, 
again, the surprised salesman will say that the article in 
question is one "which we do 1 not have much call for." 
If this is so, keep it to yourself. This speech made to a 
customer acts as a wet blanket thrown over his plans. The 
intending purchaser, inquiring for an article which per- 
haps does not sell as readily as some others, is certainly 
under the impression that it is desirable and the proper 
thing. 

We should always try to sell people what they want. 
Our own personal feelings or inclinations should not enter 
into it at all. All people are not of the same mind, and 
we ought to rejoice when people call for articles out of 
the ordinary (if we have them in stock). In order to 
know our stock and where it is kept, we ought to keep 
goods of like kinds together. Our wall cases and drawers 
contain numerous articles which we ought to know are 
there. It is poor satisfaction to find out that one has goods 
in stock which have been called for and which could not 
be found at the time. Do not buy too many goods to lay 
away in drawers. If we buy goods which we can display 
in our show cases we are not apt to forget them. 

"Know then thyself," and, after that, know your busi- 
ness. It is your business to know what you have to sell 
and where you keep it. You should be able to offer sug- 
gestions to customers, and the list of articles in stock 
which was suggested in a previous article could also be 
made an index of where the goods can be found. This 
will prove to be of assistance and a time saver. 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 237 



CHAPTER LXIII. 



THE HOLDING OF CUSTOMERS. 

A Thing Essential to the Success of the Business — In Ad- 
vertising for New Ones Remember the Patrons of To- 
day and Formerly as Well — You Can Show Your Appre- 
ciation of Their Trade in Many Inexpensive Ways — It 
Pays to Do So. 

WE read a great deal about means and methods for 
developing business. In almost every instance 
they refer to ways of securing new customers. 
It seems to me that a great deal of energy is wasted in 
trying to secure other people's customers, which might 
be profitably used in endeavoring to retain our own cus- 
tomers and keep them from being led into new pastures 
by the alluring advertisements of other dealers. 

If there was no such a thing as advertising, all stores 
would stand on a level, except where location, or stock 
carried, gave one a little advantage. To-day, however, 
every one 'who is at all progressive advertises more or 
less, with the idea in view of increasing the amount of 
the sales and profits. Because Smith advertises in cer- 
tain papers, using certain amount of space, Jones must 
of necessity do likewise, on the theory that if it pays 
one it will pay the other. All storekeepers work on 
the theory that the only way to increase business is 
by taking some one's customers. Each in turn ac- 
quires the other's customers, and likewise loses to the 
other. In acquiring new customers, greater difficul- 
ties are encountered in handling them and in making 
sales than in selling to our regular trade. While it is 
not intended by the writer to discourage the habit of 
trying to make new customers, it is his desire to impress 
upon readers generally to- exercise every ability in keep- 
ing what they have. The fable is familiar to all, of the 



238 EVANS'S- ESS A tS, 

dog with the piece of meat in his mouth coming to a 
stream, and, gazing at his own reflection, becomes cov- 
etous of the meat which the other dog has and drops his 
own meat to get it, with the result that he lost what he 
already had. In general advertising in the papers and 
elsewhere much that is printed falls upon barren ground. 
The very people to whom your sermon is directed fail to 
read it, and a large proportion of those who do read it 
have no use for jewelry, or no money with which to buy 
it. It is necessary to keep on advertising in order to 
keep the name before the public, but our efforts should 
not cease there. From time to time we should drum up 
the people who have patronized us and whose names we 
have. 

All new customers are not desirable ones. There are 
sometimes reasons for the transfer of their patronage 
which, perhaps, if known, would dispel the feeling of 
joy which fills our hearts. Unpaid accounts, or the 
habit of fault-finding, ofttimes leads people to change 
their place of trading. 

In endeavoring to build up our business by acquiring 
new customers, we may be calling to our stores the very 
kind of customers which we do not want. In using 
methods for keeping our own customers we can make 
selecton of the most desirable ones, and, by systematic 
use of the personal letter, or booklet, or leaflet, or what 
not, keep them from breaking away from our ranks of 
customers to help swell the crowd at another store. The 
fact that our competitors are working constantly to 
acquire our customers behooves us to use our best en- 
deavors to keep them from succeeding in their efforts. 
In a town or small city, people are generally acquainted 
with more than one jeweler; oftentimes with several. 
They generally buy at one store ; yet what is there to hin- 
der them going to the others? All are probably equally 
reliable, and all probably carry equally good stock. If, 
however, the one with whom they are accustomed to 
trade sends them occasional reminders of what is new in 



EVANS'S ESS AYS. 239 

jewelry, they will generally stand by him, for the reason 
that they will understand that he appreciates their trade, 
because he keep? them posted on the prevailing styles 
and specialties from time to time. It is in some in- 
stances a big undertaking to try to personally address 
each of our customers several times during the year. It 
is not necessary that we should send to all. A selected 
list of five hundred or one thousand, carefully attended 
to, is much better than a list several times as large which 
we cannot handle successfully. 

Recently in one of the trade papers the writer read of 
how one concern started an investigation of its closed 
ledger accounts. Each salesman was asked to again call 
upon the customer of previous years and try and sell 
them. There were various reasons, of course, why these 
accounts had been closed, an important one being that 
salesmen in calling a few times had been unsuccessful 
in securing orders and had therefore gradually stopped 
calling. In this manner the customer had been allowed 
to drift away. The article relates that 40 per cent, of 
these accounts were reclaimed by slight efforts. 

How often we find the customer whom we step up to 
wait on is a standby of former years, and also one whom 
we have not seen for some time. By seeing him we are 
reminded of the fact that we have. not had his trade in 
years. What is the reason? Perhaps there is no real 
reason. Or, perhaps, merely because someone else asked 
for the trade which we made no effort to keep. Custo- 
mers lost through neglect are hard to reclaim. All 
people like to feel that their trade is appreciated, and it 
requires but a slight effort to let this fact be known. The 
"thank you" spoken for a purchase made, or a bill paid, 
costs nothing. It does not humiliate, and it does please 
the customer. Many regard the exchange of money for 
goods, and goods for money, as a mutual exchange 
and mutual advantage, and such it should be. 
But the same exchange might be made in other stores 
than yours, and from that exchange you would make 



240 



EVANS' S ESSAYS 



nothing. So forget your stiffened dignity occasionally 
and show your appreciation of trade given. Also do 
not be afraid to ask for trade as opportunity affords. If 
a thing is worth having it is worth asking for. 

While new customers are desirable, and we must have 
them, we must also keep the old ones, or we have an- 
other to gain for every one lost, if, nautically speaking,, 
we keep on an even keel. When you come across 
a friend or customer invite him to call in when he is. 
passing and see what is new. Many times he will come 
in and bring a job for repairing, if he does no more. 

Keep your eye on the accounts of good customers, and 
keep a list of your good cash customers, and try and keep 
them as customers. Always remember that with every 
customer you hold you also retain their influence, which 
ofttimes far exceeds the value of their own patronage.. 
: 'A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush." Also, a 
satisfied customer is worth two possible ones to be ob- 
tained by advertising for the customers of others. 




EVANS'S ESS AYS. 241 



CHAPTER LXIV. 



BE WELL AND NEATLY DRESSED. 

See Ourselves as Others See Us — Business Men Cannot be 
Indifferent to the Opinion of Others — Do Not Econo- 
mize Where it Will Attract Attention and Give One the 
Idea That All is Not Well. 

MAXY men profess themselves to be absolutely in- 
different to the opinions of others, and from this 
statement seem to derive quite a little satisfac- 
tion. They say that they do not know what people think 
of them and that they do not care. Men who make such 
pretensions do not even deceive themselves in their pro- 
fessions. All men desire the good opinions of their fel- 
lows, and without it life is deprived of its charms. And 
if w r e are in business we must have the good opinion of a 
majority of our acquaintances in order to be successful. 

To gain the respect of others one must have self- 
respect. No man can hope to favorably impress those 
whom he meets if he lacks that respect of himself. A 
well-dressed man will accomplish more than the same 
man shabbily dressed. No man is perfectly at his ease 
or at his best when he is shabbily diessed, whether of 
necessity or from supposed economy. It is false econ- 
omy for a business man to keep a nice suit for Sunday 
and appear at a disadvantage throughout the rest of the 
week. The cost of being well dressed is not sufficient 
to make any great difference in the year's profits. In 
fact, you cannot afford to take the chances of appearing 
as though your business is not the decided success which 
your newspaper advertising and your salesmen say that 
it is. 



242 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

Another thing, salesmen and clerks take their cue 
from the proprietor. If he neglects his personal appear- 
ance, they often do the same. People expect to find 
jewelry store salesmen to appear in accord with the 
goods which they sell. The proprietor and clerks should 
be as well dressed as the average, at any rate. If a cus- 
tomer enters your store, and a well-dressed clerk steps 
up to wait upon him, he feels at once that he is in a 
first-class establishment. 

The Good Book says that "man looketh upon the out- 
ward appearance," and it is true that we are all prone to 
form our opinion (often wrongly) relative to a man's 
success or failure from his dress and general appearance, 
rather than from his conversation, no matter how cul- 
tured he may be. 

The first stepping stone to success is the adoption of 
the means by which the world measures the standard of 
success. If being well dressed gives us the impression 
that a man is getting along all right, let's adopt the same 
methods ourselves. Notice what impresses you about 
a man favorably and then cultivate yourself along the 
same lines. 

No man can afford to overlook the opinions of others. 
Even John D. Rockefeller, rich though he is, is grieved 
over the expressed opinions of men whose possessions 
are limited. Another thing about appearing well dressed. 
There has lately appeared in the newspapers the story 
of a man, wishing to test the value of good clothes, who 
set out from New York, poorly dressed, to work his way 
home. He reports scant courtesy shown him, and is 
now more than ever impressed with the fact that while 
the coat does not make the man it most certainly does 
make the impression. Whatever the man really is, his 
condition is helped wonderfully by appearing at his best. 
Do not take chances. Perhaps the fact that you are 
successful or brilliant in some particular lines may never 
be discovered while you are economizing on clothes. A 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 243 



genius, after he is known to be such, can do as he pleases, 
but we are not all geniuses, and it certainly is better to 
follow along with the crowd than to go it alone. When 
we see dry goods store clerks dressed in the height of 
fashion it certainly behooves storekeepers to go and do 
likewise. 

Whenever it becomes necessary to economize regard- 
ing your expenditures, make your restrictions along lines 
where the attention of others is not attracted to the fact. 
A man's economies should be of the sort called personal 
gratification. Forego a few pleasures, if necessary; 
give up the theatre or other little extravagances, but do 
not economize in your store expenditures. Do not think 
that keeping your gas turned low during the evening, or 
a couple of jets entirely out, is practicing economy. It 
ic the rankest extravagance. If you have your store 
open, presumably for business, be ready for it. Passers- 
by looking at a store with the lights turned low will nat- 
urally suppose that you are closed, and will not even 
try to get in. 

Do not be afraid of over-attention to the show win- 
dow. It will stand to have a whole lot done to it every 
week. Where the same display is left undisturbed for 
an entire week, the goods and cards are dirty and dusty. 
Every morning they should be dusted off with a light 
duster. Do not forget that your show window in a 
way reflects your prosperity and your worthiness of pat- 
ronage, just the same as your clothing gives the im- 
pression of success or failure. Your regular customers, 
who visit your store perhaps a dozen times during the 
year, will look in your window a hundred times during 
the same period. Your window, therefore, should be a 
creditable representative of what lies within. 

Finally, be anxious regarding what people say of you 
and think of you. Where a little effort will accomplish 
it, see that they regard you favorably. As business men 



244 



EVANS'S ESSAYS 



we cannot forget that much depends upon how "others 
see us." 

"Opinion governs all mankind, 
Like the blind's leading of the blind ; 
For he that has no eyes in's head 
Must be, by a dog, glad to be led; 
And no beasts have so little in them, 
As that inhuman brute Opinion.'" 










EVANS'S ESS AYS. 245 



CHAPTER LXV. 



GO FORWARD AND NOT BACK. 

You Have to Look Alive if You Expect to Keep Up With 
the Procession and You have to Hustle if You Expect 
to Gain on the Rest of the Marchers — Untiring Energy, 
A Good Reputation, and Square Dealing Will Tend to 
Do the Trick. 

IF we were given our choice we would all naturally 
choose to go forward rather than backward. And 
we are given our choice in a way. We hear a great 
deal about the survival of the fittest, and that the race of 
life generally is won by the man who is most worthy of 
success. Naturally, many a good man falls by the way- 
side or is trodden down by the more ambitious. Such 
things cannot be helped. We may theorize about mat- 
ters in a very beautiful manner, or we may criticize 
many of our wealthy men who have ruined others 
in their rise. But how many of us ever think of the 
other fellow in our own business, except as he takes 
some important piece of business from us. We fig- 
ure that each must look out for himself. This is 
true, and it is that point which this article is intended 
to cover; Every man worthy of the name is working 
with some distinct purpose in view. Either he is work- 
ing to earn the amount necessary to build the ideal home 
which he has dreamed about for years, or he, perhaps, 
has his mind set on amassing a certain amount of money. 
Improvement is the cry of the age. Every workman and 
clerk is anxious to earn more money, and they expect to 
get it. They find no satisfaction in plodding along at 
the same salary year in and year out. They expect to 
see it increase, and increase. In business, how different. 
A man works a few years, developing his business, and 
after it has just started to grow he gets tired and lets it 



246 EVANS'S ESSAYS. 

drift along any old way. As has been said, we cannot 
stand still. We must advance or retreat. On all 
sides of you are the outstretched hands of your com- 
petitors, beckoning to your customers to come their way. 
Without action on your part, many will be lost. If you 
show a proper spirit of hustling, and a desire to hold 
their patronage, you can do so, and in addition hold their 
influence. 

Persistency is desirable. "Consistency is a jew el," 
and persistency, to me, is also a jewel. If we are going 
to acknowledge defeat, because of several lost sales; if 
we are going to lose heart, because of a dissatisfied custo- 
mer; if we are not willing to adopt an optimistic view 
of affairs, then, indeed, our chances are slim of ever ac- 
complishing a great deal in a business way. 

"It's easy enough to be pleasant 
■ When life moves along like a song; 
But the man worth while is the man who can smile 
When everything goes dead wrong." 

Persistency accomplishes a great deal. People respect 
the persistent man. Of course, one might overstep the 
bounds in anxiety to make a sale, but that is a place to 
use judgment and know when to stop. My idea of per- 
sistency is a steadfastness of purpose, a belief in the busi- 
ness in which you are engaged, a confidence in yourself 
and your goods and prices, and your intention to have 
a public hearing if persistency will win it. 

To achieve success one must have untiring energy. 
Nothing worth having is obtained without an effort. If 
you desire a life of ease you must work hard and earn it. 
If you want your business to improve you must show 
people why it is to their interest to trade with you. Your 
profits depend upon your sales and naturally you want 
them to trade with you. This is understood. What 
you should try to> make plain through personal conversa- 
tion and through advertising is the several reasons why 
it will pay customers to trade at your store, and what 



EVANS'S ESSAYS. 247 

you are willing to eta to hold their trade. People gen- 
erally trade where they think they get the most for their 
money, either in quality or quantity. If you can show 
them that you can better satisfy their wants than others, 
or that they can trust you implicitly, then you can have 
the business. Naturally, as so many other reliable men 
are out with the same intentions, one cannot acquire even 
his own share without considerable effort; but he who is 
not willing to work to achieve success is not worthy of 
it and can never obtain it. 

Going up stream is always slower and harder work 
than going down stream. The writer once read a little 
story regarding a man who was trying to encourage a 
friend to work harder by citing the quotation, "There is 
plenty of room at the top," and he was surprised to hear 
the answer that he guessed "he would stay with the 
crowd." Many others are of the same mind. Such will 
never be willing to put forth the efforts which success 
costs. 

To advance requires that we have a good reputation 
among the people. What a man does outside of business 
hours lots of times affects his business. If he gambles a 
little it hurts him not only with his creditors but with his 
customers. A man must have a good reputation mor- 
ally, as well as be an honest, upright business man. 
Success which we earn is appreciated, and a man who 
works hard to build up a business generally keeps it. 
Some business men who achieve a moderate degree of 
success immediately after opening up believe themselves 
to be children of fortune, and immediately settle back 
in their chairs and expect to have nothing harder to do 
than count money during the rest of their lifetime. Such 
are generally disappointed. "A new broom sweeps 
clean/' is an old saying. Many patronize a new store 
because they know that everything is brand new, and 
if the store proves its worthiness it has a chance to hold 
many of its chance customers. 



248 



EVANS' S ESSAYS . 



Improving the appearance of our surroundings and 
the condition of our goods and cards can be accomplished 
with little effort during dull times, and doing this will 
help greatly in improving business later on. There is no 
difficulty in finding men who are willing to enjoy the re- 
sults of hard-earned efforts, but there are not so many who 
are willing to make the effort first. All rules are subject 
to exception, but it will generally follow that the man 
who works the hardest along proper lines will accomplish 
more than the easygoing fellow. 

"Desire not to live long, but well; 
How long we live, not years but actions tell." 




FEB 27 1908 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 048 479 6 



